Out of The Box - Week Ending 02/05

See, this is what happens when tennis is your religion...you neglect your blog, the maintenance of your hair, the search for an inexpensive body butter to replace the exceptional one you used to get for a buck at the Dollar Tree (I have eczema and, yes, it was exceptional)...all so you can stay up day and night to watch the Australian Open. Thankfully, Serena and Fed didn't disappoint in their respective Singles Finals and the Williams sisters had some amazing points in their doubles match againt the frighteningly phenomenal Cara Black and Liezel Huber.

The downside this past week was the announcement of Ugly Betty's impending cancellation (though I've been too busy sucking at Mario Kart and getting hooked on Caprica to do more than worry about where I'll get my weekly dose of Vanessa Williams), but the upside has been an interesting and entertaining mix of articles that have generated some great ideas on KM...well, for me at least, that's why this stuff is out of the box.

• In a nod to avoiding the obvious pathways of strategy success, Pepsi eschews multimillion dollar Super Bowl ads in favor of "two-way dialogue" with customers in order to make brand a movement.
• Davos seemed like the place to be for Knowledge Managers this week, curious to know how many KM professionals were in attendance at the annual World Economic Forum (WEF). Can we get this kind of conversation going at future KM conferences?
• Having been roundly chastized for working like a dog to keep the momentum going on KM efforts (which, as it turns out was was more of a political maneuver to "keep-me-in-my-place"), I can totally appreciate Erica Olsen's tips on maintaining the momentum of strategic planning
• Epiphany of the Week: Forget Goldman Sachs janky bonus practices, after reading about how JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO, Jamie Dimon, scored a $16M bonus, I finally understand all of these sketchy fees Chase has been hitting me with over the last month. Remember the days when banks charged fees as a penalty and not a dubious revenue generating practice? I do. Here's wishing you lots of karma Jamie!

• Simple, but great advice (the best usually is) on winning new business (or support) whether you're an independent KM consultant or operating an internal KM function.
• How To of the Week: Some timely advice on managing anxiety in the workplace.
• Fantabulous response to a WSJ article on the loss of favor of strategic plans. This is always a point I try to underscore in my KM engagements.
• Question of the Week: Is "heritage" just a fashion trend or something your KM branding efforts can benefit from?
• KM Opportunity: The problem is not digitizing electronic health records, it's improving the accessbility and functionality of these systems (making them user friendly) and getting healthcare professionals up to speed on how to use them without interfering with their ability to do their primary work of saving lives. Anyone know of a group of professionals equipped to make this happen? Ooh, ooh, I do, I do.