Preparing
for Conversations with Denham Grey
Knowledge
Sharing and Social Software
 Introduction
Denham Grey has
been one of AOK's more controversial members almost from its
beginning, not because he has been out of step with the growing
body of knowledge of KM itself, but because he is often a burr
under the saddles of some of the most highly esteemed leaders
in the field. Having never written a book himself, he is a merciless
critic of the works of others, sometimes writing reviews even
before the  books are published or
on the market. With other KM greats, he is effusive and numbers
them among his mentors. He makes no bones about whom he likes
and dislikes. They should have named him 'Frank.'
His presence here
as the 64th STAR Series moderator will not be received well by
some of his colleagues. I understand and regret that.
But Denham has earned
his place in the series. He is passionate about knowledge management
and its relatives, energetic in carrying its message and an effective
facilitator of knowledge exchange and archives by maintaining
his KM wiki space as an encyclopedia of KM long before there
was a broader Wikipedia dedicated to community development of
a knowledge space. Whether you love him or hate him, he has secured
a solid spot in KM-one of the elite group of six-figure hits
in a Google search for Knowledge+(name).
Regardless of his
behavior toward some of his colleagues, Denham Grey is not to
be ignored, and some of his work has exceptional value. He will
share that here.
Denham is most passionate
about social networking, and this warm-up to the Conversations
with Denham Grey includes his thoughts on the subject. But what's
new to this space is the Knowledge Sharing and Social Software resource
page he has developed particularly for this Dialogue. Since
we are largely focused on the 'human side' of KM, we either ignore
the place of technology in KM or resist the inflated belief that
IT is KM's driving force. Of course, we know better than to say
that IT is not a vital support mechanism for KM; yet, we have
given it too little attention here. Denham brings that to us
for the first time. A summary and link to the Wiki page can be
found below.
So there you have
it-my take on Denham Grey. Enjoy the last STAR Series Dialogue
for 2005 in a Conversation with Denham Grey. We will take our
usual hiatus in December, although look for a surprise Special
Dialogue associated with a project AOK is undertaking. Mysterious?
Yep!
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Biography
Denham Grey began
his KM journey way back in 1985, when he first heard about expert
systems, decision support technology that captured the smarts
of consultants and gurus in limited domains. While building these
systems for forestry, GIS and soil interpretation, he came to
appreciate the importance of relationships, conversation, dialog
and social exchange for continuous learning and knowledge development.
He moved to the
US from South Africa in 1994 after helping Nelson Mandela win
the election there. Denham's entire family served as election
officials for the Mandela campaign.
After moving to
the US, he helped Fortune 500 companies capture solutions to
common problems for the helpdesk industry, assisted Etienne Wenger
with e-learning classes introducing communities of practice to
the business world in 1998. He taught postgraduate classes at
Indiana University, Purdue University in Indianapolis in business
and strategic intelligence, human - computer interaction and
personal networking.
Since then Denham
has practiced and consulted on advanced knowledge practices including
knowledge mapping using boundary objects, concept mapping for
improving shared understanding, patterns to capture and validate
experience, refactoring and annealing collaborative writing in
wikis and building dynamic corporate memories.
As CEO of GreyMatter
Inc., Denham has worked with companies within the US and abroad,
helping virtual teams with practices such as forming distinctions,
developing ontologies, classification systems and writing pattern
languages. KmWiki, which he launched and managed, became the
largest collaborative knowledge management repository on the
web.
Denham remains active
in KM web forums, publishes the widely respected "knowledge-at-work"
KM weblog and is leading the way in KM podcasting. He maintains
a keen interest in emergent social software exploring their implications
for knowledge creation and innovation.
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AOK Wiki - Podcasting,
Mappping and More
During this Dialogue,
Denham will discuss emergent software tools that can be used
to share knowledge commonly called - social software technologies
- examples include podcasts, collaborative concept maps, web
feeds and blogs, tagging and social bookmarking. We will explore
how they are part of a set of an exciting new genre that assist
with conversations, make connections, promote collaboration and
help context sharing.
In tandem with the
Dialogue, Denham has developed a wiki as a reference space to
provide a take-away from the STAR series and a link collection
for visiting afterwards.
Subjects in the
wiki page include:
Podcasting is a
means of distributing audio and video programs via the Internet
that lets users subscribe to a number of files, also known as
a "feed" and then to hear or view the material at the
time that they choose.
What is the link
between KM and podcasting? Clearly podcasting helps with the
distribution of information, can be useful for individual and
group learning, may be combined with blogs and RSS feeds to provide
syndication, feedback and news. The exact role of podcasting
in KM has not had time to develop but there are early indications
that the channel is rather one-way.
- Collaborative
Concept Mapping
Concept maps show
relationships between domain concepts in the form of a hierarchy.
They consist of nodes and links with labels and are useful tools
for learning, creating shared meaning, helping with knowledge
creation, elicitation and capture. The real power of concept
mapping comes with tools that allow collaborative editing. Now
it is possible to synchronously annotate, discuss, link to resources,
change the spatial arrangement, style and color and add your
propositions to the diagram itself. This allows visual annealing
and refactoring a powerful advanced practice for knowledge work
What is a web feed?
An XML-based document
which contains content items, often summaries of stories, podcasts
or weblog posts with web links to longer versions. Weblogs and
news websites are common sources for web feeds, but feeds are
also used to deliver structured information, in the form of an
alert or notification, ranging from weather data to "top
ten" lists of hit tunes. While RSS feed is by far the most common term,
the generic "web feed" terminology is sometimes used
by writers hoping to make the concept clear to novice users,
and by advocates of non-RSS feed formats.
- Social Search
and Bookmarking
Social bookmarking
is an activity performed over a computer network that allows
users to save, tag and categorize (see folksonomy) a personal
collection of bookmarks and share them with others. Users may
also take bookmarks saved by others and add them to their own
collection, as well as to subscribe to the lists of others-a
personal knowledge management tool.
"New Internet
based, "social" technologies that are used extensively
by the digital generation will be revolutionizing the shape and
modality of future learning." Alan Levine.
Ripping is gathering
digital content, mix is selecting, edit and/or recombining, feed
is to transmit and to share.
Today, when we browse
and search, we invoke a series of chance operations - we use
interfaces, icons, and text as a flexible set of languages and
tools. Our semantic web is a remix of all available information
- display elements, metadata, services, images, and especially
content - made immediately accessible.
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Social Knowledge -
A Personal Account
Surowiecki's "The
wisdom of crowds" tells anecdotes and stories that illustrate
some of the advantages of collective decision-making, but my
epiphany runs deeper that decisions and problem solving, to the
very nature of knowledge itself. The route to working with knowledge
lies through people, building relationships and trust, deep dialog
and creative abrasion. There needs to be diversity of ideas and
an environment where failures and reflection are valued as learning
enablers.
"Knowledge
is embodied in people gathered in communities and networks. The
road to knowledge is via people, conversations, connections and
relationships. Knowledge surfaces through dialog, all knowledge
is socially mediated and access to knowledge is by connecting
to people that know or know who to contact."
- Toward Principles
The importance of cohorts
You may obtain information
from the 'sage on the stage' a book or CBT, but you learn
on the playing field, where your identity is forged, opinions
are validated, values mediated, beliefs formed and assumptions
are tested. Social mediation is key, and this is where cohorts
help you make meaning and gain understanding. We own a social
brain and apprenticeship is the natural way to learn. We
need cohorts and community to build a shared repertoire of key
concepts, evolve tools, craft language, gather stories and highlight
sensitivities. This is where learning products reside.
Sharing meaning
Shared meaning is
the difference between personal knowing and acquired understanding
or social knowledge. This is the power behind language and communication.
Points to the essential role of sharing critique, alignment and
reflection in learning. Meaning is established through patterning,
emotions play a key role. To make meaning explicit and ensure
alignment, it is essential to question and test assumptions.
Crafting distinctions
Creating new knowledge
comes from bringing forth new worlds, from agreeing and
naming subtle signs, symptoms, patterns and perceptions that
enable alternative courses of action. Mostly this happens as
a natural byproduct of conversations within groups and is recognized
by the issues, the values, the beliefs and in the language of
a community of practice. Often encoded in the 'slang'
and group talk that sets the community apart. Distinctions are
closely related to ontologies and to making meaning. They contribute
a large measure to identity.
Deep learning,
identity and dialog
Knowing is an act
of participation, knowledge is more a living process than
acquisition of an object, it is closely tied to who we are and
emerges in dialog or through copy and practice. Lasting knowledge
is knowing more than definitions, concepts and relationships,
it is feeling what is right in a particular situation,
requires personal engagement, passion and a community to emerge.
Learning and knowledge require an ecology to thrive and
evolve.
Generative learning
New insights arise
at the boundaries between communities, connections and reflections,
are key to synthesis and access to new ideas. The learning potential
of an organization lies in maintaining a tension and a balance
between core practices and active boundary processes. Identity
and meaningfulness are the wellspring of creativity, sharing
is a natural by-product of belonging. Learning and understanding
is more about community than content .
Creative abrasion,
high challenge and safety
Dorothy Leonard
struck a chord talking of creative abrasion. To change
your mindset you need to raise the energy levels, increase the
attention and focus. This is difficult to achieve in a placid
conversation. Exposure to alternative assumptions and frames,
some advocacy, deep dialog, strong engagement and a pure clash
of ideas help to unsettle, and resettle meaning. Prior
beliefs are difficult to change using reading, classroom instruction
and teaching as telling. Taken too far, increasing stress
levels will reduce the learning opportunity, there is a fine
balance to be maintained.
Boundary hopping
and busting prototypes
The sweet spot for
learning is at the boundaries of individual and community. Here
you are less sure and secure , core rigidities are lower, you
are flooded with new thought forms, alternative analogies
and metaphors. Making connections is key and often follows trusted
relationships.
In the knowledge
economy, connections and relationships count more than personal
know-how and access to content. The environment changes so fast,
the optimum knowledge strategy is instant access to people and
their ideas and continuous awareness and learning in a supportive
community. People and discourse communities provide the 'filter'
mechanism for alerting and awareness. This helps to keep your
focus, provides market intelligence and affords a platform for
negotiating meaning and value. A key heuristic is to: annotate
complex documents with contact people who can coach, situate
and explain. This is a higher quality connection than hyper-linking
to yet more content.
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Personal identity
and context are
key in all forms of knowledge work. They determine your propensity
to share, inquire, probe, prototype, experiment and question.
Identity regulates your engagement in deep dialog and controls
your ability to engage in creative abrasion.
- Community is a prerequisite for continuous
learning. This does not have to be a CoP, a discourse community
is just as valuable as it delivers awareness, helps to sensitize,
alter mental models and surface assumptions.
- Knowledge needs
negotiation
imposed (mediated) social values and reflection, separate knowledge
from personal knowing and individual competence (skills)
- Knowledge is
situated
some knowledge is present in social ritual, inventions and artifacts.
Reification changes the nature of objects turning them into knowledge
artifacts (social objects)
- Knowledge needs
representation,
inference, critique and reflection are improved when there is
something tangible to work from. This is not the essential aspect
of knowledge, but representation and reification are key for
building longer term memory, promoting learning and are needed
to scale knowledge work. We need to be mindful of what is lost
when we represent and need to heed that any representation is
a powerful filter.
Reciprocity and
engagement
is the price system for knowledge within a firm, the route to
shared meaning and real knowing
Links
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