Storytelling and Knowledge Sharing

Storytelling and Knowledge Sharing John P. Girard, Ph.D. [email_address] [email_address] www.johngirard.net www.sagology.com

Agenda
Introduction
Organizational Storytelling Overview
Stories of Knowledge in Action
Writing the Future
Resources
Summary
Questions
© 2008 John Girard, Ph.D. (john@johngirard.net)
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DimDim Tips
Use Full Screen
Mute Phone (if possible)
Chat area for Questions
Hide Annotations

Sagology
sagology [sāj- ol - uh -jee]

- noun
1. The study of organizational wisdom in all its forms, esp. with reference to technology, leadership, culture, process, and measurement.
2. The study of one venerated for experience, judgment, and wisdom.

Origin: 2008; Canadian English, from Middle English of sage + -ology.
Sage [Middle English, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *sapius, from Latin sapere, to be wise ; see sep- in Indo-European roots.]
-ology [Middle English -logie, from Old French, from Latin -logia, from Greek -logiā (from logos, word, speech ; see leg- in Indo-European roots) and from -logos, one who deals with (from legein, to speak ; see leg- in Indo-European roots).]

Storytelling by Steve Denning © 2008 John Girard, Ph.D. (john@johngirard.net) www.stevedenning.com/SIN-136-HBR-publishes-Telling-Tales.html
Purpose of Story
Sparking action
Communicating who you are
Transmitting values
Fostering collaboration
Taming the grapevine
Sharing knowledge
Leading people into the future

HBR May 2004 © 2008 John Girard, Ph.D. (john@johngirard.net) In June of 1995, a health worker in a tiny town in Zambia went to the Web site of the Centers for Disease Control and got the answer to a question about the treatment for malaria. Remember that this was in Zambia, one of the poorest countries in the world, and it happened in a tiny place 600 kilometers from the capital city. But the most striking thing about this picture, at least for us, is that the World Bank isn't in it. Despite our know-how on all kinds of poverty related issues, that knowledge isn‘t available to the millions of people who could use It. Imagine if it were. Think what an organization we could become.

Using Stories to Explain KM © 2008 John Girard, Ph.D. (john@johngirard.net) Knowledge Management is the creation, transfer, and exchange of organizational knowledge to achieve a [competitive] advantage. Girard, 2009

Explaining the Cognitive Hierarchy © 2008 John P. Girard, Ph.D. (john@johngirard.net) Hurricane Knowledge Information Data Knowledge Edge Wisdom Understanding Knowledge Knowledge Creation “ With 3,600 stores in the United States and roughly 100 million customers walking through the doors each week , Wal-Mart has access to information about a broad slice of America . . . The data are gathered item by item at the checkout aisle, then recorded, mapped and updated by store, by state, by region . . . By its own account Wal-Mart has 460 terabytes of data .” ( 750,000 CDs 1 terabyte ~ 1,000,000 MB) 14 November 2004

Explaining the types of Knowledge © 2008 John Girard, Ph.D. (john@johngirard.net) Michael Polanyi Easier to replicate Leads to competency Harder to articulate Harder to transfer Harder to steal Higher competitive advantage Contributes to efficiency Easier to document and share 20% 80% Explicit Tacit Carla O’Dell O’Dell, C. (2002, May). Knowledge Management New Generation . Presented at the APQC’s 7th Knowledge Conference, Washington, DC.

Something to consider . . . © 2008 John P. Girard, Ph.D. (john@johngirard.net) “ . . . as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know .” http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=2636

Runner Up
"I think that gay marriage is something that should be between a man and a woman."
© 2008 John P. Girard, Ph.D. (john@johngirard.net)

Knowns and Unknowns Discussion © 2008 John P. Girard, Ph.D. (john@johngirard.net) 1. Printer/Scanner 2. 3. 1. Data Mining 2. 3. 1. Competitive Intell 2. 3. Unknown Knowns Unknown Unknowns Known Knowns Known Unknowns

Stories of Knowledge in Action © 2008 John Girard, Ph.D. (john@johngirard.net) TYLENOL® crises of 1982 and 1986
Socialization
Social spaces (Ba)
Master/apprentice
War Stories
Combination
Formal Education (MBA)
Policies
Data mining
Teradata, 1991 Wal-Mart, 2004
Internalization
Learning by doing
Experience
Values/Ethos
Externalization
After action review
Lessons learned
Metaphor

J&J Credo www.jnj.com/our_company/our_credo/ Our Credo (Johnson & Johnson) We believe our first responsibility is to the doctors, nurses and patients, to mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and services. In meeting their needs everything we do must be of high quality. We must constantly strive to reduce our costs in order to maintain reasonable prices. Customers' orders must be serviced promptly and accurately. Our suppliers and distributors must have an opportunity to make a fair profit. We are responsible to our employees, the men and women who work with us throughout the world. Everyone must be considered as an individual. We must respect their dignity and recognize their merit. They must have a sense of security in their jobs. Compensation must be fair and adequate, and working conditions clean, orderly and safe. We must be mindful of ways to help our employees fulfill their family responsibilities. Employees must feel free to make suggestions and complaints. © 2008 John Girard, Ph.D. (john@johngirard.net)

http://www.jnj.com/our_company/our_credo/ There must be equal opportunity for employment, development and advancement for those qualified. We must provide competent management, and their actions must be just and ethical. We are responsible to the communities in which we live and work and to the world community as well. We must be good citizens – support good works and charities and bear our fair share of taxes. We must encourage civic improvements and better health and education. We must maintain in good order the property we are privileged to use, protecting the environment and natural resources. Our final responsibility is to our stockholders. Business must make a sound profit. We must experiment with new ideas. Research must be carried on, innovative programs developed and mistakes paid for. New equipment must be purchased, new facilities provided and new products launched. Reserves must be created to provide for adverse times. When we operate according to these principles, the stockholders should realize a fair return. © 2008 John Girard, Ph.D. (john@johngirard.net)

Storytelling by Steve Denning © 2008 John Girard, Ph.D. (john@johngirard.net) www.stevedenning.com/SIN-136-HBR-publishes-Telling-Tales.html
Purpose of Story
Sparking action
Communicating who you are
Transmitting values
Fostering collaboration
Taming the grapevine
Sharing knowledge
Leading people into the future

Writing the Future
Snowden’s (2002: 3) ‘we can always know more than we can tell, and we will always tell more than we can write down.’
However, Snowden (2002:3) suggests:
I can speak in five minutes what it will otherwise take me two weeks to get round to spend a couple of hours writing it down. The process of writing something down is reflective knowledge; it involves both adding and taking away from the actual experience or original thought. Reflective knowledge has high value, but is time consuming and involves loss of control over its subsequent use.

Guiding Government Leaders into the Future
excite change in a very large bureaucratic organization
Five years in the future
Balance of real and imaginary
Critical Success Factors:
Look of the story
Believable
Executive Support
© 2008 John Girard, Ph.D. (john@johngirard.net) For complete stories see: www.johngirard.net

Guiding Faculty into the Future
excite change in a small mid-west university
Mock interview with Dean
Balance of real and imaginary
Critical Success Factors:
Real Dean
Realistic Journal
“ Now I get it”

Students into the Future
Low completion rate
Look – student paper
Geographically separated students
Moral boost needed
Critical Success Factor:
It worked!

Storytelling and Knowledge Sharing John P. Girard, Ph.D. [email_address] [email_address] www.johngirard.net www.sagology.com

Storytelling and Knowledge Sharing

by John Girard on Nov 19, 2008

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Storytelling and Knowledge Sharing — Presentation Transcript