Out of The Box - Week Ending 03/20

I tell you, I feel so much better when I get to blog regularly. It really is therapeutic - not quite as much as cooking is, but being able to focus on things that matter to me, brain dump my thoughts, and perhaps engage in conversations with other like-minded folks is a huge honkin' stress reliever for me.

So, I'm dedicating this weekend to catching up on all of my neglected writing projects, beginning with this blog and I've just spent the last 2 1/2 hours sifting through some very cool articles, enough for at least 2 OOTB posts :) (so no excuses for not having a post next week).

Oy, where to start??

• Marketing Sherpa (faithfully) offers up advice to assist with your KM Branding efforts. Check out their site and sign up for the weekly newsletter which gives you a full week to access and review articles before they get locked down to subscribers


• Luxe Item of the Week: Honestly, it's a tie between Angelo Araneta's Diamond-studded chocolate cake and Diadema Diamante...personlly, I think the two go well together.


• KM Crush Patrick Lambe posits an interesting question in his post on the Black Knowledge Economy (which, btw, is neither - sadly - influenced by my increasing self-importance in the world of KM or the election of President Obama).



• Facebook Users Hate Redesign - Planning a redesign of your knowledgebase or Content management system? Read this article and this one too.



• Celebrity Trend of the Week: Celebrity Theft - a recession tragedy!


• Have an amazing marketing or advertising idea that could've changed the world, but went unappreciated an ignored? Submit it to Blurb’s Killed Ideas and share your brillance!


• I don't know her personally, but Anne Mulcahy (Xerox Chairwoman and CEO) seems like my kinda peeps...at least in this article.

Quick & Dirty: Retail Therapy

So, this weekend I was out and about enjoying some much needed retail therapy and doing my part to improve the economy....okay, maybe not so much because I'm a thrifty bastard who will avoid paying full price like the plague (although at this point I would pay top dollar to find a shoe store in Charleston that sells a pair of K-Swiss Classic Tennis shoes). But, this is okay because, as I eventually surmised, the economy is doing just fine.

At least, that's the opinion I formed from shopping at stores that are either supremely confident that U.S. consumers are going to spend massive amounts of money on their mostly non-essential luxury items or clearly didn't feel the need to (re-)develop better business plans.

Off the top of my head, I'm not sure at what point a Knowledge Manager might be engaged to improve a businesses economic outlook, but this Knowledge Manager has a few ideas on how retailers might make some gains (or, at least, shake me down for a few more coins):

1. Check your prices. Established businesses are working the sales like crazy (partly to move inventory, but also to minimize losses and maintain a steady flow of customers). However, new businesses opening in this economy (particularly small businesses) should re-think high price points if they are going to stay afloat in a difficult economy selling items that you can find at your competitor across the road. If high prices are necessary to break-even in your first few months, either consider pushing back the Grand Opening or finding less expensive retail space to reduce overhead. Or, you could just ignore this advice and crash and burn in month two - I bet I'll be able to get everything I wanted for a song. Everything? E-v-e-r-ything!



2. Re-invest in sales.Personally, I don't credit JT with bringin' sexy back, but I'd sure like to know who the hell you've gotta call to bring salesmanship back.Just like big manufacturers discovered the missing value of in-house call centers in the '90s, it's high time that retailers rediscovered the lost art of sales. Not just pimpin' out some cheap hired help to ring up a purchase, but utilizing your salesforce to both move product and get the kind of one-on-one feedback that most non-retail businesses would kill to have in order to understand what customers are looking for. There's KM for ya! Knowing what your customers want and are willing to pay for, directly from their own mouth, will help businesses to stock moveable merchandise and build that oh-so-critical customer loyalty



3. Revolutionize the mall.If there's one thing I think major retail outlets could do to single-handedly improve the U.S. economy it would be to revolutionize the shopping mall. These days shopping malls are the retail equivalent of the cookie cutter suburban housing development - uniformly pretty, convenient, bland as all-get-out. Because of the high cost of retail space in most successful malls, the barrier to entry is ridiculous leaving consumers with a directory of stores no different from any other mall. And, when businesses fail and must vacate, the effect on the mall is similar to that of a residential neighborhood - an unattractive, depressed, financially devalued community on the road towards mall death.
   
   Imagine if, from the onset, malls set aside a slect amount of space specifically priced and marketed towards small, locally owned businesses, perhaps connecting with area university business and/or fashion programs and helping to establish budding entrepreneurs and designers; anchored stores could even be asked to help subsidize this program (particiulalry since their investment is the largest). In this way, each mall is differentiating themselves, attracting a more consistent flow of consumers, and more firmly investing in the local economy.

Out of The Box - Week Ending 03/13

So, some of these reads have been on my "to post" list for a hot minute, but I've been busy enjoying the lush life. By the way, happy belated St. Paddy's Day y'all!!!! I celebrated with the usual family tradition of corned beef, cabbage, and boiled potatoes...and Guinness, of course, duh!

It's always nice when there are interesting and thought provoking articles to read and share - even if I don't always have the time to read or share them right away.

• As a Knowledge Manager I feel that a critical part of any successful consultation is holding up a mirror and "breaking it down" for the client before laying out recommendations, but in this article, Professor James Heskett ponders the question "How frank should leaders be?" with the rank-and-file.


• Question of the Week: Is Capitalism Working? Nearly 29 years after Time magazine posed the question on its cover, George M. Taber asks it again (and just when its been on my mind too...)


• Interesting Factoid: The US ranks only 16th in the world in car ownership rates? Really? Really!?!?! Color me surprised.


• Cool Tech of the Week: Gagapost offers easy collaborative blogging.


• Marketing strategist and blogger B.L. Ochman offers up some road rules for folks cruising along the information highway.

Reflections of a Knowledge Manager - YEAR 6

So, I'm just a few days away from the six-year anniversary of my first post-university KM gig (which, coincidentally, is only a couple of days before my b-day) and I had a nice little surprise while I was googling position descriptions for "knowledge manager".

Guess whose blog is the #1 search result?

Considering how little time I've invested in search engine optimization and how slack I feel about my blogging habits, I'm surprised, but also very pleased.

Anywho, I have a birthday tradition of reflecting on past goals and achievements as a way to gain perspective on getting older and helping me to prioritize the things that really matter in my life so that I can do a better job of reaching out towards all of those unfulfilled dreams that tend to get pushed aside in the daily grind of work, bills, tennis, relationship drama, and stressing over work, bills, tennis (yes, even the One True Religion can sometimes involve stress), and relationship drama. So, this year, as I near the celebration of my KM anniversary, I think it's only fitting that I share my reflections on what I've come to learn during my career on my appropriately titled blog.

When I began my KM journey as a college sophomore (following the realization that I would probably never graduate with a degree in Chemistry and study perfumery in Paris) I was confident that my (phenomenally brilliant, IMHO, lol) strategy skills, my butterfly wings (socially speaking), and my penchant for big ideas (I'd have "people" to take care of the details) were all that I needed to be successful. However, as I transitioned from student to young professional it became apparent that there was still much I had to learn about business. I came to the conclusion - very quickly - that one of the primary reasons that organizations experience such tremendous difficulty with KM is that it (1) requires them to acknowledge how much they participate in the culture of fear and greed that permeates too many organizations (behaviors that have the effect of a cold shower on KM, if you catch my meaning) and (2)demands that they let go of these behaviors, no matter how familiar and comfortable they may be, in order to have a shot in hell of achieving the (much desired) full benefit of KM. It's that whole "A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step" idea.

For those of you who've read my earlier posts (and even those who haven't, because you can't truly do this work and not know where the hell I'm coming from), you know that one of my major pain points is having to deal with being the oft-shot at messenger.

Just a few weeks ago I was totally spanked (verbally, of course, this ain't that type of blog) by a colleague for openly and "irresponsibly" asserting in front of other KM colleagues (and some high ranking muckety-mucks) that *gasp*, *shock*, *awe* - we should vet (review and assess) requests coming into the KM function rather than immediately agreeing to execute and deliver. For my part, I smiled it off and maintained my stance, well aware that the real issue at play is that too many people are more afraid of challenging the status quo (even when it benefits the organization) than they are of doing their jobs well.

(Sidenote: Right now I can't help but think about well-raised, intelligent students who act a fool to look "cool" and maintain mediocre or poor grades so as not to demonstrate their intelligence to peers; adults see this behavior as being ridiculously stupid, but how many adult workers refuse to pursue excellence in their workplace and/or careers for the same or similar reasons? Guess what, it's still ridiculously stupid!)

While I have learned how to "play the game" and navigate very sketchy and treacherous waters, I still resent having to do so. One, because most of the people that I've worked with over the years are fully aware of the counter-productivity of these behaviors and, two, because I'd prefer to demonstrate how much more effective KM strategies can be without all of the BS.

Sighhhh, this is supposed to be a reflection, not a bitch session.

It was a strange combination of ego (building a name for myself by helping to define what I initially - and ignorantly - perceived as a fledgling field) and synchronicity (all of the random events that led to me happening across an interestingly titled job description on Monster.com at midnight one Friday) that brought me to KM and sometimes - more than I care to admit - I get frustrated with the direction of my career and the sense of non-accomplishment; I jealously read all of the interesting and provocative KM discourse taking place and get pissy about doing mundane (albeit well-paying) grunt work that isn't contributing towards any visionary or innovative KM breakthroughs; I imagine what more I could be doing to achieve some sort of "status" and recognition in KM and then I laugh because I suddenly remember that the other reason I decided to pursue a career in this field is that (unlike writing or cooking) I knew I could walk away from KM, easy-breezy, if it ever got "old" and that if money were not an issue I'd be taking tennis lessons for hours at a time every day when I wasn't farming herbs, making cheese, and trying to get cacao beans to grow in the North Georgia mountains.

And just like that I regain a bit of perspective and I'm able to see that even if I've yet to be tapped to write a monthly column on knowledge management for Fast Company or published a bestselling and critically praised book on KM (which improves KM understanding just by holding it in your hands) I'm not doing too bad.

For starters, I get paid to do work that I'm passionate about. From the time I left grad school until now I've been blessed and fortunate to find one KM job after the other and with each role my understanding has grown and my KM "toolbelt" has expanded. I've had the opportunity to spread my message about the relevance and significance KM and introduce it to people who continue on their own KM journey even in my absence and break it down for people who met me with negativity, resistance, and misinformation. Most importantly, despite the occasional moments of doubt and uncertainty, I'm daily reminded that my insights and intuition about KM have not led me astray and have actually opened up doors (personal and professional relationships, jobs, and other opportunities), that would have, otherwise, remained closed.

Of course, I'm still eager to "make a name for myself", but there will be time for that. After all, if you're good at what you do, people will find you.

And I do have that #1 Google search ranking working for me too, lol.

So, I'm looking forward to the next year and seeing what develops. In the meantime, my goals are just to...
Stay real.
Stay open.
Stay focused.
Stay inspired.
Stay confident.
Stay passionate.

Quick & Dirty: Dirty Thoughts On The KM Track at the DoN IM/IT Conference

So, yesterday I attended what has really amounted to my first conference on KM at the Department of the Navy (DoN) 2009 IM/IT Conference Conference at the San Diego Convention Center

In my six, seven years doing KM work all of the conferences I've wanted to attend have either been fiscally or geographically out of range so I was excited to have the opportunity to sit in a room with my peers and others excited about KM to discuss the work we're doing. Unfortunately, I needed more than my excitement about being there to keep my eyes open.

Thankfully, I had my Blackberry and my similarly bored co-workers to keep me engaged.

My biggest comment on the whole experience is that I would think that experienced knowledge managers should know that people are less likely to share when they are bored out of their gourds. I expected more engagement and interactivity. Pehaps that's because I've studied Adult Education and the different forms of facilitation/presentation. After we left the track to get our drink on, I was telling my boss about the book Women's Ways of Knowing (Belenky et al) and it's influence on how I try to respect and respond to different ways that people acknowledge, develop, share, and valuate knowledge and the irony of KM's precarious place in the business world and its struggles to become "mainstream" rather than embracing its "outsider" status. That's how I felt during this conference track - that these folks were probably doing some fantastic out of the box work in their organizations but couldn't present their work with the same creativity.

Or cookies. You can never go wrong by giving out cookies.

That being said, I was super impressed with the presentation from KM Officer Nancy Jenkins. After years of doing KM work with a strongly visionary outlook, her more effective pragmatic approach to KM hinted at bitterness and disillusionment but I've been there so I'm not gonna hate. The bottom line is that she's in the right mindspace to drive KM through to fruition and those are the kind of people who help us to look good.

Anywho, other thoughts from the track...

• The Marine Corps is not allowed to use the term KM, rather they have to use the term IM? WTF?!?!? Somebody should call the National Association for the Advancement of Knowledge Management (NAAKM)
• Nancy Jenkins' Pragmatic KM: When your KM bubbles get burst so often that you start carrying mace
• Is the distinction between KM and IM really that deep? I mean, shouldn't we figure out how to care for the first child before we have a second baby? That's all I'm sayin'.
• Another Nancy Jenkins nugget: The Art of Collaboration...because collaboration isn't just a series of briefs, its a dialogue, a conversation.
• Cool quote from Dr. Ramon Flores: "Don't give me the data, give me the knowledge!"
• Personal note (on an audience members request for metrics): Developing metrics requires understanding the desired end-result so it says something (bad) that people who don't uderstand KM are always seeking out metrics.

At the end of the day, I walked out with a couple of questions inspired by my friend, Lil Magic (yes, I have a friend nicknamed Lil Magic). When Lil Magic gets his drink on, he's known to ask these questions (slurred, loudly, and often): "Where are we going?", "Why are we going this way?", and "Why is this taking so long?!?!"

Sometimes I wonder the same things Lil Magic, sometimes I wonder the same things.

Blogroll: Week Ending 1/31

So, as things settle down (whatever the hell that means) with my current KM project I'm trying to do a better job of keeping up with my blogs - this one and the one I started for work.

That means making more time to review KM literature and what other practitioners are doing/writing. These 'Blogroll' posts are meant to show my love and support for the KM blogging community and present my thoughts on the blog posts that catch my eye and get me riled up.

Today's catch includes:

• APQC's KM Edge
• Mark Pollard's blog
• Lee Romero's On Content, Collaboration and Findability blog; and,
• Matt Moore's Innotecture blog

---

On KM Maturity Models...
I have to admit that I’m not the biggest fan of KM content to come out of APQC (mostly because a lot of their stuff seems too structured and process-oriented for my tastes and I find that while they may not be replicable or ever designated ‘best practices’, many of the most effective KM solutions I’ve delivered are born “on the fly”) but that doesn’t mean I don’t keep up with the work they are doing in KM. And, I’m certainly capable of giving credit where credit is due.

Dr. Carla O’dell’s SlideShare presentation on 5 Ways KM Supports Innovation is great material to incorporate into one’s KM ‘sales’ pitch and/or service offerings.

On the other hand, APQC's Knowledge Management Maturity Model, is exactly the kind of thing I rail against. Not APQC’s model, specifically, nor maturity model’s in general, but in the application of maturity model’s as a benchmarking tool. In theory, I think that maturity models are great for providing overall guidance to any type of project, essentially establishing informational markers along ‘Route Km' ©. But, using maturity models to benchmark the progression of KM activities and behaviors is dangerous to the success of a KM strategy because it’s easy to get caught up in trying to conform the strategy to the model rather than utilizing the model as a purely supportive tool (one of many) to assist in maintaining the focus of your strategy.

Imagine that a physician has prescribed a course of treatment for an illness that results in side effects not outlined in the literature documenting the treatment. And, even after reviewing the prescribed treatment (as a good Doctor should) decides that instead of exploring and pursuing alternatives to address that patients particular situation and response to the treatment, the Doctor decides to continue aggressively pursuing the treatment outlined in the literature. Obviously, this example makes some huge assumptions and I don’t mean to oversimplify things. I’m simply pointing out that, as a patient (if you’re prone to trusting your Doctor implicitly), the idea that your medical professional would stick to a course of treatment that clearly isn’t working for you simply because that’s what the literature says, even though the literature doesn’t cover all of the crap happening to you, rather than saying, “Hmmm, maybe I should look at some alternatives”, would, no doubt, be extremely discomforting.

If you feel that, then, hopefully, you can feel my pain about maturity models.

Of course, maturity models (and medical treatments) don’t apply themselves and organizations (unlike patients) don’t have the ability to seek out a second opinion or switch Doctors, which is why it’s important to have leaders capable of making the distinction between a strategy (which may need modification, on the fly) and support tool that provides guidance, not instructions.

And, for those of you inclined to roll your eyes and consider this post one of my “duh” moments since you share this wisdom and already “get this”, please realize that there are a lot of folks working in our field who don’t. Sadly, I’ve seen folks base entire strategies around hitting maturity model milestones without ever really addressing their most critical KM needs.

---

On Community...
You gotta love it when thoughts and ideas ignite a firestorm of dialogue. Mark Pollard's point-in-post comment on the "antithesis of anonymity to community" (nestled in a well written post entitled "7 Things You Can Learn From Hip Hop...If you want to build an online community") led to a debate that has produced some provocative and worthwhile reading. Click through the links to the following posts and join the discussion!!

• "My Ignite presentation about building communities" (Markpollard.net)
• Not all interaction is created socially (Markpollard.net)
• enemy public? (Engineers Without Fears)

---

New KM Role: Search Analyst
I’ve been working with my boss to improve (read: gut and rebuild) the Search functionality of our Kbase so I’m particularly keen on the idea of having a dedicated resource (even on a part-time basis) and Lee Romero’s post defining the role of a Search Analyst was truly timely and appreciated!

---

Pimpin' Knowledge Management
I’m fond of telling folks that being a successful knowledge manager involves wearing many hats and taking on a variety of roles: strategist, analyst, salesman, marketer, facilitator, psychologist, therapist, statistician, database manager, project manager, hand holder, and con artist among them. For those folks working towards their KM Merit Badge in Sales, Matt Moore of Innotecture (who's steadily making strides towards becoming my new KM crush) has prepared a short white paper on Justifying Your KM Program.

As I learned myself (only a few years ago, really), when you are selling a product, any product, you are basically selling yourself – your experience, your passion, your ability to make their investment pay off (just check out the BBC show Dragon's Den). And, don’t get it twisted, when you’re seeking out executive and/or financial support for a business initiative, the same rules apply! In his paper, Matt outlines the three things you’ll need to make your KM pitch work. This information, coupled with the wonderful ideas proffered in his July/August ’08 KM Review article, Closing The Deal With The Help Of Knowledge (with Keith De La Rue of Acknowledge Consulting), serves as a solid “bootcamp” on selling your KM strategy for practitioners.

Everyone say 'thanks Matt'. “Thanks Matt!”

Click here to access the wiki version of the Justifying Your KM Program paper and here to access the PDF version.

Click here to access the PDF version of the Closing The Deal With The Help Of Knowledge article.

And just for good measure, a link to one of my personal favorite reads on the subject of sales and networking, Jeffrey Gitomer's Little Black Book of Connections. Jeff has written a Little Red Book of Selling, but I think the Little Black Book is the better starting point since it focuses on networking and building relationships (which is an essential part of the KM role, in my opinion). As Jeff writes, "The questions that you ask, the ideas that you bring to the table, and your communication skills, combined with your passion, belief, and attitude, are the fundamentals of what it takes to connect."

California Dreamin': KM Networking in San Diego

I'm not sure how well read my blog is, period (let alone San Diego), but I'm heading out to the West Coast again for SPAWAR's quarterly KM Offsite (the second week of February) and we'll be spending Tuesday sitting in on the KM Track of the Department of the Navy (DoN) 2009 IM/IT Conference Conference at the San Diego Convention Center.

I'd love to network with any KM Professionals based in the San Diego area, whether you'll be attending or not, so drop me a line here at my blog or via email at cyoung@modulant.com.

Christian

KM Divas

OR, "For Knowledge Managers Who Have Considered Suicide When The Drama Is Too Much"

Shockingly, I'm taking time away from the insanity that is SPAWAR (and, of course, I LOVE it, lol) to post something before the month is up. Once again, it's not my promised KM3.0 post, but I hope you'll forgive my slackness, it's definitely not intentional. As it is, I'm only awake and writing tonight because I stayed up to watch Serena fight her way back from almost being bumped out by Svetlana "Bumpy" Kuznetsova in the second set. Way to go ReRe!!!

As I raced down I-26 on my way home around 8:30p tonight, venting to Lucy (my new car) about my day, I was reflecting on some particularly bad knowledge management behaviors exhibited by some KM folks I know and it struck me how very true the maxim "your attitude determines your altitude" is with regards to KM.

If there's one thing I learned from my graduate program at the University of Southern Maine (and I learned a lot!) it's the importance of leading by example; practicing what you preach, as it were.

I believe I re-counted, in an older post, my attempt in the 2nd year of my graduate studies to evaluate KM practices and behaviors at Boston-area consulting firms offering KM consulting services for my Program Evaluation class. All, except one, of my requests were completely ignored. The single exception being Booz Allen, who's then CKO, Dr. Chuck Lucier, kindly responded that BAH only worked with post-doc researchers and folks from B-School's. Although, I was peeved (and my response to Dr. Lucier slightly bitter) I just assumed these organizations didn't want a flashlight shined upon their internal KM efforts in case the deets cast them in an unfavorable light and generated questions about their ability to sell a service they hadn't fully realized themselves.

Of course, that's just my opinion.

Anyway, I say all of that because I do think that it's important, especially with KM, to model the practices and behaviors we are promoting. After all, if you won't swallow the little red pill, then why should your clients, customers, or organization?

The problem of KM Divas, however, goes deeper than being a bad role model. As a knowledge manager, your personal attitude about sharing knowledge and information influences the development and implementation of your KM strategy. Having met KM professionals who've demonstrated that Nazi's and Communists can get jobs as knowledge managers too, you can imagine what KM might look like under that sort of direction (and that's not to say Nazi's and Communists are "bad"...they just don't have reputations for being very "open-minded").

Fortunately, unlike Whitney Houston's reality show and Diana Ross bouncing Lil Kim's pastied fake boob on live TV, most KM Divas stop well short of crimes against humanity. Rather, they demonstrate their diva-ness in their fondness for knowledge hoarding (sad and tacky), grand, self-proclamations of expertness (can you be a KM guru if you've never done any practical KM? I'm just axin'!), and preference for competition over collaboration (if you have a subject matter expert on your team, doesn't it make sense to use them over an outside contractor who will give you the credit for a price?).

What's worse, is when KM professionals don't realize they are a KM Diva. Unfortunately, these behaviors also limit any chance of success for good KM practices and behaviors to take root and become an organizational norm. At the end of the day, joking and office politicking aside, this is the major issue this type of behavior presents. If KM is going to sell the value, values and ROI of open, collaborative environments, it must be championed by folks who embody and espouse these qualities. (Or, who are willing to try - that alone will bring awareness of where similar-minded folks in an organization are coming from and lead to building bridges with people who could easily be your greatest cynics.)

For folks out there who are stuck working under a KM Diva: I feel you! If you have any strategies for surviving in that environment share them with me and I'll post them here. Who knows, if my dream of being an Herb Farmer when I retire doesn't pan out, maybe I can start up a Knowledge Management Diva Rehabilitation Program. I can already envision Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" being a KM Diva anthem, "...they tried to make me go to rehab and I said, 'know', 'know', 'know'..."

Ahhhh,that was cathartic.

Quick & Dirty: "Real" Applications of KM

Happy New Year!!!

I had planned on having my KM3.0 rant be the first post of 2009, but I've been busy trying to finish up my Q1 Goals at work and the time I thought I'd have free during the holidays ended up being used to party like a rockstar for four days straight (although Mary's in East Atlanta didn't have that song available for Maryoke last Saturday).

Anywho, one of the things I love about my current job is the opportunity to break new ground in how people understand KM. Most folks in my organization either have no idea of what KM is or a very narrow idea so branding is super critical. And, a key component of any branding strategy is the ability to define service offerings which is what I've been working on today for my boss.

Once you get beyond content management, which most people think of as the sole function of KM, you really get into the various ways in which all of that information can be leveraged. This, in my humble opinion, is what puts the 'knowledge' in knowledge management.

While there are many different activities that can potentially fall under the domain of KM, this list is really only relevant to the activities my organization's KM team is involved in (or looking to expand into). Still, this might be a good starting point for folks seeking to demonstrate the value of KM beyond content management (which, I've still included).

1. Content Management…
…refers to the set of processes that support the lifecycle of information, from acquisition, organization and dissemination to expiration.

2. Business Intelligence…
…refers to the process of aggregating and analyzing metrics and data about a particular business unit or function to identify and provide recommendations on potential opportunities.

3. Competitive Intelligence
…refers to the regular, frequent, proactive, and systematic collection, analysis, and management of data, information, and knowledge concerning the business environment in which an organization operates.

4. Key Intelligence Topics (KITs)…refers to topics of great importance which provide purpose and direction for Competitive Intelligence reporting. Three basic KIT categories are:

• Strategic Decisions and Actions (including the development of strategic plans and strategies);
• Early-Warning Topics (e.g., competitor initiatives, new technology developments, and government actions); and,
• Descriptions of Key Players (including competitors, suppliers, regulators, and potential partners).

5. Succession Planning/Knowledge Transfer…refers to the process of planning for the smooth continuation and success of an organization by:

1. Developing, sharing and transferring critical knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) from out-going to in-coming staff through a combination of training, coaching, and mentoring; and
2. Identifying the ever-evolving KSAs needed to maintain competitive advantage and strategizing the development and/or acquisition of suitable human resources.

6. Knowledge Discovery
…refers to the systematic analysis of user provided data to reveal previously unidentified patterns, trends, and relationships about customers, products, services, and other activities that can lead to new and profitable business opportunities.

Additionally, KM can provide assistance in the development of:

• Communities of Practice
• Organizational Literature (including White Papers, Action Reports, and Case Studies
• Human Resources Policy and Planning (HRM & HRD), and
• Technology Infrastructure Planning

The one thing that I didn't include in this list was the education and learning (provided by the KM function) around each of these areas. Keep in mind that with branding, marketing and education are yin and yang; every service offered by your KM function will involve educating your target audience.