Let’s take a look, in my view, some people right now beginning to realize and aware that Knowledge is no longer treated as Object but evolved as Subject having consciousness, free will (mind and value), active and dynamic. Knowledge evolved as emergent behavior in human as complex system.

Considering the nature of knowledge just mentioned, I prefered using the word “evolved” rather than “created or captured” for Knowledge. Knowledge as Subject or as Self making KM is live and becoming central in (management) sciences. That is the main cause why until currently no KM definition accepted universally and why we’re mentioning KM as “Elephant”.

Singularity phenomenon between human and technology when reaching its peak around 2012 making people turning from “Mind Brain” (Scientific Knowledge) towards “Consciousness DNA” (Knowledgeable Science). The essence of our problem in “Approach to KM Elephant” is in how we transforming “Scientific Knowledge” into “Knowledgeable Science”. The last one indeed showing the spirit of multi sectoral as well as multi disciplinary approach as Art Schlussel further mentioned … that the courses have a reach farther than just “KM”. Here, Social Constructivism (“Know Where”) learning leveraged with Social Media platform will be very prominent. On the other side, KM as human nurture, making reorientation towards the model of human body genome process as nature.

(Source Links : http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/five-basic-implications-of-new – FIVE BASIC IMPLICATIONS OF NEW PARADIGM OF KNOWLEDGE. http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/we-are-the-knowledge-hybrid – WE ARE THE KNOWLEDGE : HYBRID DEFINITION OF KNOWLEDGE. http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/next-generation-of-knowledge – NEXT GENERATION OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT (KM). http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/knowledge-towards-2012-great – KNOWLEDGE TOWARDS 2012 : GREAT TURNING FROM MIND BRAIN TO CONSCIOUSNESS DNA. http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/new-approach-to-km-planning – NEW APPROACH TO KM PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING BASED ON ANALOGY WITH HUMAN BODY GENOME PROCESS )

Thanks for the comment. I completely agree with you that there are many ways to introduce KM to an organization. You need to understand the business needs as well as what is culturally acceptable in the organization – then decide on the best approach. As Kent Greenes says “you need to meet the organization where they are at.” In other words figure what they want (and need) — then use that as a starting point for the KM effort.

But – my point about the elephant wasn’t so much about the variety of potential starting points….as about how different people view KM. As I said some see it as document management…others see it as search and yet others as implementation of E 2.0 tools. The point I was trying to get across is that while each of these is potentially valuable (and a viable starting point for stealth km) many people only see KM as one of these elements…they miss the bigger picture…the whole elephant if you will.

So what I’d like to explore…is there value in companies going beyond applying just one faciet of KM…regardless of where they begin? Is there value in getting KM practitioners and managers to see the whole KM elephant? And if there is…how as KM practitioners can we help make that happen?

KM by stealth (or what one might now call ‘the elephant in the room’ is often used where the language of KM is thought by the organisation concerned to be an initial barrier to entry. KM by stealth, for example using KM tools and techniques to support and enrich an existing business project or process, is but one way to ‘prove the concept’ for those concerned. Another is to implement via an exisiting change ambition, for example – a learning organisation. In essence, business improvement (impact and outcomes) via KM are more important than what they are called/labelled.

This post was mentioned on Twitter by DavidGurteen: The KM elephant http://bit.ly/7go1FJ #km…

Cisco may be an example of this. I just finished watching an outstanding video where Cisco’s CEO, John Chambers, talks about and demonstrates how they are using collaborative technologies to significantly improve business performance…and he indirectly talks about a lot of what we would think of as KM processes as having a role in this business improvement. Based on what I’ve seen…my hypothesis is that Cisco is one of the leading companies at using KM practices and processes to dramatically improve their business performance. What I’m seeing is that they are rapid replicating and leveraging good practices developed in one part of the organization to improve performance in other parts of the business. This is allowing them to rapidly accelerate things like successful acquisitions and implementation of new technologies…because they are learning, sharing and improving each time they do something (sounds like KM to me).

I’ll be visiting Cisco in late February and will explore the idea of “stealth KM at Cisco” further. I’ll let you know what I discover. Let me know if you know of other companies we should be looking at – from the “stealth KM perspective.”

Here is the link to the video. It’s a little long (60 min) … but well worth watching. I’d start at about the 39 min point where they do some demos…then go back and watch the first part of the video if you have the time.

http://tools.cisco.com/cmn/jsp/VodFrame.jsp?dir=http://www.cisco.com/E-Learning/cmn/vod4e/public/johnada_11_10_2009_15_48_23/offering1/lesson/win-high.htm&Prod=Y&id=94605&suboffid=1&userid=(none