1. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Decision Makers
Habit 2: actively manage knowledge
Genesis Management
Consulting Limited
“Improving lives through better decisions”

2. The underlying purpose of the series is …
… about helping you to improve people’s lives
by helping you to make better decisions!

3. The introductory slide show gave us an overview…
found at The 7 habits Overview

4. reminding us that strategic decisions
have a far-reaching impact
The decision ring
of influence

5. and summarized the 7 habits of highly
effective decision makers
1. get the basics right
2. actively manage knowledge
3. communicate visually and verbally
4. prioritize ethical implications
5. embrace complexity
6. “think like a shrink”
7. use tools and technologies

6. in the first habit we looked at:
Where organizations can - and do - get
the basics wrong
How getting the basics right involves
answering six key questions
What actions can be taken to get it right

7. in the second habit we look at:
the common knowledge management
traps
how to improve decisions through
effective knowledge management.
some of the behavioral challenges and
some of the tools available

8. common knowledge-related traps
more than 60%* of
respondents categorized
knowledge management
as either “very poor” or
“could do better”
(* 2010 Genesis global survey)

9. what are the common errors?
failure to deal
with complexity
unfocused data
collection
insufficient time
too much reliance on
financial data

10. common knowledge-related traps
Untested assumptions
No insights
Knowledge not
captured Bias and
misperceptions

11. even our in-house IT systems can be
frustrating
decision information cuts across
processes and functions
unavailable data
unusable data

12. so how can we be more effective?
effective decision makers see knowledge management
as a process to be dealt with proactively
information capture insights

13. with two objectives:
to support the decision to capture the decision
making process making process
• learn and improve
• sense the future • re-play decision
• support intuition • test assumptions
• generate insights • explore options
• establish the facts

14. knowledge management process
Knowledge drivers Knowledge management Data is processed
define system captures the data, to yield
requirements knowledge and process insights
but also …

15. can be facilitated by the right tools
but also hindered by behavioral problems
information capture insights
behavioral
the right
problems
tools

16. actively managing knowledge
information capture insights
this slide show
will consider each
of the elements of
behavioral active knowledge
the right management
problems
tools

17. knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes

18. the knowledge management process
the inputs:
information capture insights
knowledge
drivers define
behavioral the information
the right
problems requirements
tools

19. knowledge drivers:
the elements of the decision process drive
the information requirements
information requirements

20. example decision:
should we acquire company x?
Driver Example Knowledge sought
Objective Double market share By how much will our market share
increase after the acquisition?
Situation How will it change Who are all the market players and
appraisal the competitive what will be their possible reactions
dynamics of the to our takeover?
market?
Option What are the What are the potential combinations
generation potential terms of of share swaps, cash, guarantees and
the deal? debt that could be offered?

21. 3 important questions
“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we
know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things
that we now know we don’t know. But there are also unknown
unknowns. These are things we do not know we don’t know.”
United States Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld
what knowledge do we already track down the source,
have in the organization? verify and capture it.
what knowledge do we know focused search: use
we don’t know? hypotheses
what knowledge do we not broad search: use external
know we don’t know? inputs and creativity

22. remember from Habit 1…
effective decision makers plan their
information gathering ...
unreliable
not enough too much
… and get the balance right

23. effective decision
makers measure
the cost of obtaining
information against
the value of that
information
impact on credibility of
outcome? uncertainty reduction? source?

24. "There's no such thing as
knowledge management;
there are only
knowledgeable
people.”
“Information only becomes knowledge
in the hands of someone who knows what to do with it.”
Drucker

25. the knowledge management process
the system:
information capture insights
the knowledge
management
system captures the
behavioral data, knowledge
the right and process
problems
tools

26. the knowledge management system
captures the data, information and
knowledge all information &
knowledge housed in
one place:
 accessible
 relational
 scalable
 secure
 integrate-able

27. the knowledge management system
must capture the process
 to learn and improve
 to re-play the decision
 to test assumptions
 to explore options

28. checking the
results
of a decision
against its
expectations
shows
executives
what their
strengths are,
where they
need to
improve,
and where they
lack knowledge
or information

29. the knowledge management process
the insights:
information capture insights
data is
behavioral processed to
the right
problems produce
tools
insights

30. insight is the ability to grasp the key
elements of a complex subject, person or
situation
Insight and wisdom
Context why?
independent
Knowledge
how?
Information
what? who? where? when?
Data
Understanding

31. true insight reveals
the system …
its is more than just an aggregation
of the underlying knowledge and
information
only with true
insight can we find
the creative,
disruptive solution
that changes the
game!

32. one method alone will not create
insights
crowdsourcing
data analytics
systems thinking
creativity simulation & games
exercises
visualization

33. to obtain insights, engage the right brain
insights come from the
computers can simulate
right-brain
much of the
left-brain activity
holistic
context
logical
simultaneous
sequential
synthesis…
calculating …
intuition intuition
VERSUS AND
rationality rationality

34. “A moment’s insight is sometimes worth a life’s experience”

35. the knowledge management process
behavioral problems
behavioral problems

36. the best knowledge in the world is still
subject to interpretation-bias and
misperceptions
(behavioral economics)
recognition of your bias is
not enough in itself to
prevent you being
influenced by them
see habit 6: “think like a shrink”
for more on this topic

37. and misperceptions appear
in many forms ….
overconfidence
seeking confirmatory
evidence
champion bias
anchoring
ease of recall
loss aversion
sunk cost fallacy
misaligned objectives
group-think

38. “A point of view can be a
dangerous luxury when
substituted for insight and
understanding.”

39. the knowledge management process
the right tools:
the right
tools

40. there are a multitude of tools that
can improve the capturing and
conversion of knowledge
capture generate insights
manage systems think
analyze visualize
simplify share
model simulate
see habit 7: “using tools and technologies”
for more on this topic

41. find the right tool for the task
for instance …
The Parmenides’ EIDOS
one tool cover almost the full software suite is
spectrum of requirements comprehensive.
Consideo covers a wide-range of
others help in a broad area areas and is excellent in systems
modeling and insight generation
THOUGHTstream facilitates
others are more specific crowdsourcing and long-
distance facilitation
Laminin Solutions coordinated
or broad-based KM support with Genesis in this “Lean
Information” presentation
however, tools are just tools and need to be applied with experience and intelligence
Links to these tools available on the Genesis website on “The 7 Habits” page

42. even if the right tools are just paper,
pencils and dialogue!

43. a simple tool
the Genesis decision room:
tapping into the power of the brain
a single room …
…data, charts, research, presentations, web-sites, flip-
charts, etc are on display…
…to absorb, discuss, debate, draw, challenge in free-flow
with the intention of developing insights…
why?
rational, conscious minds have limited capacity
letting knowledge sink into the unconscious and allowing it to
develop its own links and patterns taps into our full mental powers
further stimulation through dialogue with others will further
enhance the process

44. the subconscious
needs time and
space
to
roam

45. habit 2: actively manage knowledge
summary
information capture insights
behavioral
the right
problems
tools

46. using this slide show
… a check-list …
Check 1: Do you develop a knowledge management plan
based on the key steps of the decision process?
Check 2: Do you keep all your “knowledge” – data, your question:
information, analysis, insights, conclusions and process -
in one central repository? can our
organization
Check 3: Do you look for “unknown unknowns” as well improve the
as the obvious “known unknowns”
effectiveness of
Check 4: Are you capitalizing on the tools, techniques our decision
and methods that could optimize your decision process? making by
Check 5: Are you really focused on reaching creative improving our
insights that can identify innovative solutions? knowledge
management?
Check 6: Are you working at keeping the behavioral
biases from corrupting the decision?

47. through helping your organisation to
take better decisions …
… you will make a positive
impact on peoples lives!

48. for more information about the 7 habits series and
other decision making support…..
The 7 habits of highly effective decision makers
- the overview
Habit 1: get the basics right
Genesis web-site
download all the slideshows at our web-site

49. Genesis Management
Consulting Limited
Genesis is a strategy consulting firm with a mission of
“improving lives through better decisions”
We do this by building individual and organizational competency through:
• Decision coaching
• Decision training
• Decision support
This presentation is one of a series of articles that discusses decision making
in more detail.
For queries on in-house presentations or further information, please contact
Simon Gifford at sgifford@genesis-esp.com
or visit our blog at www.genesismc.co.uk/blog
Editing & graphics: M. Conidaris