Climate Change: Solidarity in a divided world

The 2007/08 Human Development Report is published. Under the current energy policies, rising
economic prosperity will go hand-in-hand with mounting threats to human development today and the well-being of future generations. But carbon-intensive economic growth is symptomatic of a deeper problem. One of the hardest lessons taught by climate change is that the economic model which drives growth, and the consumption in rich nations that goes with it, is ecologically unsustainable.

The way to go is consensus and policy, including post-2012 Kyoto framework. We need to preserve what Gaugin painted not so long time ago.

ASEAN for Southeast Asia

In the picture, a bather is opening a cabin with a key. ASEAN is probably the most successful regional organization in Asia and the Pacific in building keys for development. These are comments related to the coming 13th ASEAN Summit, as proposed by United Nations.

In terms of investment and financial flows, the poorest countries need efforts for financing development and crisis prevention. ICT sector could be strong in Southeast Asia as the world ICT market continues to grow steadily, but it needs to integrate, with integrated policies and regulations on the use of ICT, a regional physical infrastructure that includes Internet connectivity, availability of skilled ICT professionals and an integrated labour market.

ICT is fundamental for the competitiveness of other economic sectors. Southeast used to compete in the global economy by relying on low-cost labour, is now pressed to improve the processes, to innovate, and to improve competitiveness through the use of ICT. The more competitive countries are also the ones with higher e-readiness. The Global Competitiveness Report 2006/2007 of the World Economic Forum ranked Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand among the top 35 economies in the world in terms of competitiveness.

In sum, if the free market policies do not help the poorest countries, somebody has to do it, and for this reason ASEAN exists. The way to go is integration. By integrating, all countries benefit from a higher community of skills workers, a larger set of resources and a larger critical market mass.

Report can be downloaded here.

Knowledge Map

Today I have been requested a Knowledge Map for my organization Tunide Adions. The request sounds to me as a comprehensive chart that would guide collaborators to find their knowledge, both documents or contacts of experts.

We, personal computer users are aware of the difficulty involved in creating a structure of folders that reflects their content and makes it easy to find documents from the desktop. At the corporation level, the creation of a knowledge map that meets the needs of all persons, including customers, presents a comparable challenge although perhaps on a larger scale.

Organizations receive massive amounts of information on a daily basis that they must gather, categorize, interpret and disseminate efficiently. Data such as sectoral news or market trends first comes in and needs to be captured. This process must be supported by established procedures of reporting, editing and publication. Filtered information must then be organized in maps. Mapping organizational knowledge is the most crucial activity in providing users with practical access to information.

The technique of knowledge mapping creates a hierarchical model or architectural structure in which knowledge can be collected and categorized in a standardized manner, comparable to the Encyclopaedia Britannica Propaedia, which is a standard for the collection and categorization of knowledge.

A good knowledge map is a necessary but expensive component that is beyond the financial reach of some organizations. Nevertheless, such organizations can take advantage of the knowledge market as knowledge can be mapped simply by following customer needs and demands. A reasonable knowledge map can be derived based on customer feedback, on an ad hoc basis. Although such a map could appear irrational, it is still more helpful to a user than a hypothetical knowledge model best understood by its creators but rarely implemented in full. In order to follow the knowledge market, knowledge managers need to listen to their knowledge clients in order to ensure that the knowledge that they make available is as attractive and accessible as possible.

The key is to observe knowledge requests and determine the specific conditions under which they are made. For example, an organization that manages a knowledge network of external experts with clients who call for expert referrals is likely to find that clients and experts do not always use the same terms and this situation could cause duplication and inconsistency. The design of knowledge maps that ensure useful and accurate categorization could significantly reduce this risk.

Knowledge maps are models that not only identify documents and other explicit knowledge but that can also identify the tacit knowledge that exists in the minds of people. This is because people are not only guides to information but, also, important repositories of expertise. Such models do not attempt to capture the knowledge of an expert knowledge in a repository but, rather, to retain only topics of expertise and contact information including address, phone number or e-mail address. It would not be feasible for such models to capture this type of knowledge itself, because of time constraints and the complexity of the content.

Knowledge Maps are quickly evolving. After only documents and contacts, other knowledge types are being added. Intranets permit logging for customized search, navigation and access. Usage statistics can be analyzed to provide a more particular experience. And a knowledge map is a product of the business objectives, and must change together with them.

Enterprise Search Engines are complementary tools. They allow users to find knowledge even if it is not properly organized or explicitly unstructured. They search the contents of the Intranet and other available personal computer files (including web browser histories, e-mail archives, text documents, sound files, images and video). Wikipedia offers a knowledge map based on user demands and another one based on academic disciplines, as well as lists and subcathegories, but my strong guess is that more than 80% of the traffic is generated by its search engine.

This ilustration is Alfred Sisley painted by Renoir in 1876, when he tried to simplify reality perceived by his senses. He managed to hide the less expressive details and to emphasize the most relevant characteristics, through freely brushed touches of vibrant and saturated color.

La ilustracion es de Alfred Sisley pintada por Renoir en 1876, mientras intentaba simplificar la realidad percibida por sus sentidos. Renoir escondia los detalles y enfatizaba los rasgos mas relevantes a traves de expontaneos brochazos de colores vibrantes y saturados. I am now inspired by Renoir's principles and see what kind of knowledge map i come up with.

Cada dia

Cada dia una nueva cosa aprenderas. Eso decia mi tia abuela. Lo que ella no sabia era que Internet iba a permitir que fuese publico.

El cuadro es de Turner y escenifica el valor del momento.

Analyzing players in your market

The Chief Knowledge Officer of my organization was asked to find an international organization that could be considered a good practice and provide initiatives that we could replicate in house. A list of reviewed organizations was presented with a disclaimer: it was not easy to find information and initiatives, since most of them have no culture to publicly share; the research was comprehensive but not complete.

The research did not include organizations that regularly spend vast amounts of resources in knowledge management such as World Bank, ADB and UNDP, since following these organizations would be unreasonable and unrealistic.

Four approaches were presented:

1. Some organizations believed that knowledge could be codified and what staff members know could be converted into text, paper, images and video. For them, publishing this information and sending it to the member countries was a value added activity.

2. Other organizations believed that by categorizing and analyzing knowledge on development, value could be added to member countries.

3. For other organizations, main knowledge was in people’s heads. What people know would be most important and putting this knowledge into paper would be costly and difficult. Such organizations would end up managing people instead of information.

4. Finally, there were a number of organizations that believed that creating networks and creating links among them was the best way to generate value.

All organizations believed the aim of knowledge management was twofold: Firstly, to improve management inside; secondly, to improve impact in the member countries.

An example of the first approach was UNIDO. They had developed a database of industrial information sources. Sources included documentation centers, banks, training institutes, development agencies and manufacturers associations. UNIDO collected those links in a big size publication which was delivered to member countries.

DESA was a good example of second approach. A good example of their knowledge management approach was the report by Yogesh Malhotra, one of the biggest gurus from an Indian background who was hired for a report on measuring knowledge assets in nations. This publication had a great impact in countries.

Another example of second approach was UN Public Administration Network (UNPAN). They had a Knowledge Management Branch and undertook analytical, technical, advocacy, training and networking activities. Chief Knowledge Officer mentioned that we were already a knowledge organization, since most of its activities aimed at creating knowledge, disseminating it and fostering its application to policy making. In fact, most of the budget, both regular and extra budgetary, was spent on knowledge activities. Not less than 50 % of all resources were spent in knowledge management. UNDP, ADB and World Bank spent similar percentage and called themselves knowledge organizations. They conceptualize themselves in a different manner. Moreover, internal organizational structure at Toyota was based on processes (production, marketing, sales and others) while internal organizational structure at this organization was based on knowledge (emerging social issues, trade and investment, environment…). Besides spending resources in knowledge activities, it organized itself knowledge based.

An example of third approach was UNFPA. According to their strategy, they focused on three elements:

1. Knowledge Networks as formally established groups of thought leaders focused on sharing knowledge that was critical to UNFPA;
2. Knowledge Assets as ‘living’ repositories that provided know-how from UNFPA’s work including most critical asset, people; and
3. Program that applied world leading knowledge sharing practices in real action to meet real challenges.

Knowledge Networks were lists of experts in population connected together as an asset that UNFPA understood strategic. It was not a repository of documents but a repository of people. Instead of managing documents, UNPFA better managed people. The relevance for ESCAP was the following: most work at ESCAP dealt with bringing people together; however, there was no comprehensive list of representatives of governments, research institutions, academia, civil service organizations or consultants in each field. Lists were created in an ad-hoc basis. Sometimes, people left the organization and took contact lists with them. The organization needed a comprehensive approach and explicit initiative to tackle this problem. UNFPA had developed a solution that could be successfully replicated.

UNDP was an example of the fourth approach. They summarized their strategy as:

1. Coordinating networks;
2. Connecting communities of practice; and
3. Creating a common UN roster of experts.

Another organization that developed an integrated approach to knowledge management was WHO. Its knowledge management strategy focused on three main areas:

1. Strengthening country health systems through better knowledge management;
2. Establishing KM in public health, and
3. Enabling WHO to become a better learning org.

They tackled at the same time the internal and external issues. This was relevant for us in the area of publications. Sometimes reports were not reaching target audiences sufficiently. WHO used knowledge management tools to improve bidirectional communication with its member countries. Instead of only publishing, WHO was able to create discussions and provoke debates.

Finally, two good practices in developing a knowledge management strategy paper were mentioned: IFAD and ECA.

The CEO said we lived in a flood of information and knowledge management should aim at helping member states in policy implementation. Document management was the basics of knowledge management, but we should aim at something bigger, at providing lists of experts within areas of expertise. Networking was the goal. He said selection of experts and representatives for meetings could be improved.

One of the Chiefs said we are migrating from money management to knowledge management.

Rafael would have painted it like this.

Share your publications

Sharing is scary. What if somebody steals your publication or makes a heavy criticism on it? However, the only way to create a bidirectional communication with your citizens is to publicly publish your publications. For your public!

Most agencies upload a PDF version in the website. This could be printed and read. However, statistics show that download numbers are quite small. Furthermore, the number of feedback received through this model is insufficient. Sometimes, a public or limited forum has been created but I never saw one of those successfully populated.

I propose something braver. You take your text and publish it in Wikipedia or alike. You allow readers to edit your text, add, update and discuss. You benefit from their knowledge, their ideas and their effort.

You keep the ownership of the text. You provide a Creative Commons (CC) licence. CC is an organization that fights to increase the amount of artistic work available in the Internet, shared and used to build on top.

You have several types of licences, where the copyright owner gives some rights while retains others through open content licenses. CC offers some licenses that owners can freely use to share their work. RDF/XML metadata is added to always maintain the name of the owner, the type of license and other data you can choose.

For example, if you have a report that you will share, you can use a license called "Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike (by-nc-sa)", which allows:

• to Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work
• to Remix — to adapt the work

under the following conditions:

• Attribution. You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
• Noncommercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes.
• Share Alike. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one.

It is as easy as following these instructions and give up fear.

Would have Michelangelo created this Tondo Pitt without sharing and collaboration?

Resilience

All organizations show resilience against external changes. As arches, organizations have the capacity to absorb energy and deform elastically before unloading back the energy. Knowledge Management is about creation, capture and application of organization-critical knowledge and this knowledge is usually in the hands of colleagues who were there for ages and perceive most ownership. They fight very hard against changes.

In many, if not most, organizations sharing knowledge is an unnatural act. Employees may fear losing power, status and control when they share what they know. They may not be able to find knowledge that is already available in an explicit manner or in the mind of other colleagues. They may not have time to learn from others or to teach their experiences. They may perceive they would be punished if they do it.

Colleagues are scared of changing model to a knowledge management one with higher uncertainty. If resilience is not managed, such employees may stop the change.

A deeper analysis of roles shows there are more people affected and they need to understand and to contribute, they need to learn new skills and behaviours. There are pockets of resistance that need special attention and handholding. Firstly there are targets who will have to change behaviours. Secondly, there are agents involved in planning and executing. Thirdly, there are sponsors among directors.

A communication plan is a necessary tool. It should include the change state with present, delta and future; communications "events" such as announcing the change prior to actually beginning to change things, after starting changes and once reached the target; target audience; delivery method; responsibility; schedule and feedback.

Resilience is natural and even good in some cases, but too much resilience blocks change. Some conservative organizations become winners in blocking change and vetoing new initiatives and sometimes do not survive. This must be considered structural and not personal and a determined workload and effort must be planned for this issue.

Organizations need to be gardened as poppy fields, as Gustav Klimt painted it in 1907.

Assumption number one: We are in the economy of attention

Workers live today in an environment where attention is a scarce resource. The problem is not anymore to have information available, but to decide how to effectively use their attention. I believe Herbert Simon, Nobel Prize in Economics 1978, was the first to say "a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information."

Some directors still represent their problem as information scarcity rather than attention scarcity. Herbert Simon also said "and as a result they built systems that excelled at providing more and more information to people, when what was really needed were systems that excelled at filtering out unimportant or irrelevant information."

Directors who understand this, change their perspective and the way they understand knowledge management. They start thinking about personal knowledge management. They start asking for tools and habits that help each individual do his or her work in the most productive manner, wasting the least possible time in finding knowledge and creating the maximum impact out of his or her knowledge work. I will introduce syndication in a different post.

In other terms, maximizing the outcome of his or her most scarce resource: the attention.

The players at the global level

Who are the players at the global level? Most people would claim the G8 (seven most industrialized countries plus Rusia).

Since they do not represent the developing countries, other people would claim the World Bank and IMF are important players.

In terms of CSOs, maybe OXFAM and other NGOs.

The United Nations also plays a role. For example, since 1972, every June 5th, they organize the World Day of the Environment. During this day, some negotiations and conversations take place that trigger new initiatives. Something similar happens with Microfinance for Development (Year 2005), Climate Change and others.

It would be indeed interesting to start a forum on opinions about who are the players at the global level.

Thanks.

Knowledge Management and International Organizations

This is a new blog. It inherits from the two others but shows a different perspective. It will deal with changing organizations. The objective is having people making stories on what they do and what they know, and at the same time, having others reading and reusing the lessons learned. People may share not only stories, but used bibliography, related articles and interesting material. Finally, people may work together in teams, collaborate, cooperate physically or virtually using Internet based applications.