A Knovember to Remember
The Singapore MRT Route Map truly represents how information can be converted into knowledge. Colour coded lines and well marked interchanges helps one to navigate easily.
A (K)November to Remember! Part 1
After a break of a few years I attended KM Asia, Singapore , from 12th-14th Nov 2013. It helped that I was the Co-Chair of the Conference along with Nancy Dixon. There was so much to learn and so many people from whom I gained insights! In a series of articles I would like to share about some of the key Take-aways and about some of the interesting people whom I had the good fortune to make contact with. This is in no particular order.
- The Singapore Air Force Training Command represented by the Head- Sr Lt Col Vincent Yap, use Wiki’s to upgrade their learning content. For an armed force I found it very interesting, given that we are brought up in the understanding that the Military is very hierarchical; and that Command and Knowledge flows from the top.
What amazed me however was the fact that the team from the Airforce Training Command had created an online page on TodaysMeet.com for their session to engage with the audience in real time and receive feedback. They even had a QR to the page code for those who found it difficult to type in the URL. - ‘From the unexpected comes laughter’: Mariette Peters Goh, Partner, of Zul Rafique Partners, a legal firm from Kuala Lampur, stole everyone hearts with a presentation filled with understated humour. It succinctly brought out the key challenges faced in getting legal professionals to share ‘tacit’ knowledge, as well as some of the innovative ways they have taken to address them. The ‘Never-Been-Kissed’ campaign brought the house down.
- Brigette Ireland, APAC KM Head, EY brilliantly brought out the need for the KM team to treat the users as customers; and therefore adopt a sales process approach to the uncovering needs and fulfilling them. She herself spends an hour with the APAC Business Head once a fortnight understanding the concerns and requirements from KM.
- Dr. Madanmohan Rao, did not make a presentation; but he sure made an impression. He edits ‘The KM Chronicles’ and to me he embodies the true essence of a ‘scribe’. He makes it a point to attend all the KM Conference across the world, blogs about the event through succinct summaries and Tweets in Real time. In between he finds time to write books (at least one per year) and reviews books (one per week). He is the busy bee, cross pollinating people and ideas.
- Vadim Shiryeav, President SOMAR and a key motivator behind KM-Alliance, Russia, was another interesting person. He has a restlessness that seems to be come from an inner calling- a desire to do something great in the shortest possible time. Within hours of being introduced, he was chairing meetings with the delegates and speakers seeking from them their definition and ideas on ‘Co-Creation’. For him there was not a minute to lose. He was having meetings during the coffee breaks, lunch breaks and at the end of the day. I predict that soon one will be hearing of him on a massive scale.
There’s so many more people to write about and stories to share. I do so over the next few uploads. You could see some of the photographs on Facebook Album on Facebook Page. If you have come across interesting people from the KM world, do share your stories. I will be happy to share them with the community.
