What's the business context?

I get several emails a week asking for help in some form or another. Often its a very specific question that I can answer in a sentence or two. But more often than not - its a broad, generalised, conceptual question that cannot be answered easily and even if it could I suspect it would be of litte value. Here are some examples:

• Could you tell me all there is to know about KM?
• How do I create a knowledge driven culture in my organisation?
• How do I implement KM?
• What are the KM issues and the best tools to use in my industry?
• Could you give me a few tips and pointers on change management?
• How do I roll out communities of practice?
• How do I demonstrate the benefits of KM?
• How do I measure the ROI of KM?
• How do I make everyone in my organization share all their knowledge?
• What are the best exit interview techniques?

When I get these type of questions I am concerned. I am concerned that I am talking to someone who has not the slightest clue of what KM is about. Its not the question itself or the knowledge they are seeking but the fact that they think I can effectively answer the question they pose.

Look at the questions above. What is missing? Yes the businesss context! None of them tell me anything about their organization or what they are trying to achieve for the business. And you know what when I ask they rarely can tell me!

I think we still have a long way to go in KM.