The document discusses common pitfalls of knowledge management (KM) projects and provides advice for ensuring their success. It argues that KM projects often fail because they are not focused on business problems and do not have senior management support. The document advises identifying specific business issues to be addressed rather than generic KM goals, and gaining support from leadership and employees. It also cautions against using rewards to motivate knowledge sharing, arguing intrinsic motivation is more effective.

1. KM Middle East 2011, United Arab Emirates - Abu Dhabi
Don’t do KM!
David Gurteen
Gurteen
Knowledge
You don’t do KM
 You solve business problems and develop
business opportunities
 There are no KM initiatives or strategies
– They conceptualise the problem
– A project is never just about KM
 There are only business projects
 Use KM thinking & tools to respond to
business issues
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2. Most KM projects fail!
 Nothing wrong with KM, KM tools and techniques
– very powerful indeed
 The challenges
– KM projects are NOT focused on the business
– KM projects are tough
– KM project leaders are often inexperienced
– KM projects poorly conceived
– KM projects poorly managed
– Lack of support from senior management
– Lack of support from employees
– Lack of understanding or a misunderstanding of KM
– Lack of understanding of organizational complexity
– Lack of understanding of human behavior
Four KEY questions
to ask yourself
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3. The questions
1. What are the business problems we are
trying to solve?
2. How do we ensure support from senior
management and how do we sustain that
support?
3. How do we engage the people in our
organization?
4. How do we clearly demonstrate success?
Some further thoughts on how to
ensure your KM projects are a
success
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4. Think for yourself!
Think! There is no
substitute for thinking
Think for yourself
 No substitute for thinking
 No recipes or prescriptions
 No simple set of steps
 You need to think for yourself
 No one can tell you what to do
 KM is highly contextual …
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5. Context
 In our complex business world context is everything
 Things are different
– each of you are different
– your industry
– your organization
– your people
– history
– timing
– politics
– competition
Identify the business issues
Identify the business
problems, opportunities
or risks that need to be
responded to
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6. Albert Einstein on problems
 If I had an hour to solve a
problem and my life depended
on the solution,
 I would spend the first 55
minutes determining the proper
question to ask,
 for once I know the proper
question,
 I could solve the problem in less
than five minutes.
We jump far too quickly to a
“solution” without really
understanding the problem!
Its better to do the
right thing badly than
the wrong thing well!
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7. Business issues and outcomes
 “People will not share their knowledge” is
NOT a business issue
 “Implementing a knowledge sharing system”
is NOT a business outcome
Business issues and outcomes
 “Slowness to market of new products” is a
business issue
 “Shortening the time to market of new
products” is a business outcome
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8. Business outcomes
 These are not business outcomes
– Doing KM
– Improving knowledge sharing
– Creating a learning organization
– Creating a knowledge driven organization
– Setting up communities of practice
 These are business outcomes
– Cutting costs; Improving profit
– Improving quality
– Reducing staff turn over
Identify the business issues
 Talk to CEO and senior business managers
 What keeps them awake at night?
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9. Don’t do things to people!
If you have to ask “how
do we motivate people”
then you are taking the
wrong approach!
Work with people
 An innovative, healthy
organization requires that
we work with people rather
than do things to them.
Alfie Kohn
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10. Motivation is intrinsic!
 You cannot motivate people
 Motivation is inherently intrinsic
 People have to find it for themselves
 Attempts to motivate are actually
manipulation and are usually seen as such
 And have an adverse affect
Do not reward
Do not reward people
for sharing their
knowledge
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11. Rewards
 Research shows that giving rewards (even
praise) actually results in worse performance
and undermines intrinsic motivation
To the best of my knowledge, no
controlled scientific study has ever found
a long-term enhancement of the quality of
work as a result of any reward system.
Alfie Kohn
Alfie Kohn and Dan Pink
 Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn
 Drive: The Surprising Truth About What
Motivates Us by Dan Pink
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12. Do not reward
 Rewards punish
 Rewards rupture relations
 Rewards ignore reasons
 Rewards deter risk taking
 Rewards undermine interest
Credit: Alfie Kohn
• Rewards are gamed
If we don’t reward what do we do?
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13. Alfie Kohn
 Pay people well
 Pay people fairly
 Then do everything possible to make money
(rewards) off people’s minds
Incentives, bonuses, pay-for-
performance-plans and other reward
systems violate this last principle by their
very nature!
Love what you do
Loving what you do is
a more powerful
motivator than any
goody including
money.
Alfie Kohn
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14. Bob Buckman
Our approach to KM is far
more than stick or carrot.
"Knowledge Sharing is your
job. Do it!"
As a reward you may keep
your job.
Daniel Pink
 Provide opportunities for
– Autonomy
– Mastery
– Purpose
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15. Some questions to leave you with!
 Is my KM activity focused on the business?
 Have I really understood the problems?
 Am I thinking for myself?
 Are senior managers bought in?
 Are employees & other stakeholders bought in?
 How do I demonstrate success?
 Am I measuring business outcomes & not just
activity?
 What do I do in place of rewards?
Questions
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16. www.gurteen.com
David GURTEEN
Gurteen Knowledge
Fleet, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 7774 178 650
Email: david.gurteen@gurteen.com
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