**** THE GURTEEN KNOWLEDGE-LETTER (ISSUE 34, 31 MARCH 2003) ****
My conference is starting to shape up nicely. It is now scheduled for
the 18th June in London and Dave Snowden has agreed to deliver the
afternoon keynote presentation on "Just in time KM".
The theme is "making knowledge productive" and will focus on the role
of the individual in leveraging knowledge within an organization.
I've yet to finalize the full schedule but hope to do so soon. I had
a huge response to my request last month for suggestions and speakers
and if I have not yet got back to you please accept my apologies.
Everything should be in place shortly after Easter when we will start
to take registrations.
Gurteen Knowledge Conference:
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/ID/X004769D2?open&p=0
David Snowden:
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/ID/X00025886?open&p=0
*************************** CONTENTS ***************************
1 - Weblogs in Organizations
2 - Ryze Business Networking
3 - Knowledge Seeds
4 - Intranets and Websites
5 - Creative Commons
6 - KM Disasters & KM Victories
7 - The sweet smell of success?
8 - Where do ideas come from?
9 - The Knowledge Café
10 - Personal Development
11 - What are Trojan Mice?
12 - Knowledge-Raffle
******************* WEBLOGS IN ORGANIZATIONS *******************
Weblogs and k-logs are going from strength to strength. I was in a
meeting last week where I suggested k-logs could be used within
organizations to improve knowledge sharing. I was expecting the reply
"What's a weblog?" but was pleasantly surprised that everyone knew
and an interesting conversation ensued.
Weblogs are also now available to everyone at Harvard Law School see:
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/
If you still have not figured out what they are and why I get so
excited about them then just browse a few of the weblogs in my
'blogroll'. You will soon be drawn in to a labyrinth of interesting
people and ideas!
A gentle start is Euan Semple's Weblog:
http://www.theobviousblog.net/blog/
Or if you are more technically inclined try Bob Frankston, Dave Reed
and Dan Bricklin's weblog. Dan and Bob were the inventors of the
spreadsheet (VisiCalc) and David Reed was the chief architect for
1-2-3. This is a good example of a communal weblog - they do not need
to be owned by just one person. http://www.satn.org
Gurteen Knowledge-Log:
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/ID/X00141D06?open&p=0
Category: Weblogs
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/ID/X00143812?open&r=3&p=0
=================== A D V E R T I S E M E N T ===================
"We're gob smacked" "Wow" "They are clearly very powerful tools"
Enterprise knowledge management tools as they should be:
>> fast to install
>> easy to use
>> totally self managing
http://www.metasight.co.uk?s=ga
******************* RYZE BUSINESS NETWORKING *******************
Ryze is one of the most interesting "personal networking" sites
around. Check it out:
http://www.ryze.com
Start by browsing some of the people profiles and if you love to
network you will soon be drawn in.
Personal Networking:
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/ID/X00370002?open&r=3&p=0
************************ KNOWLEDGE SEEDS ************************
I am amazed - my "knowledge seeds" tool had over 250 visitors in
March!
If you missed it last month - it is a tool to help you to become more
focused or mindful of the things you might like to achieve during the
day or little tips or ideas that you may like to take on board.
Knowledge Seeds:
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/ID/X0013EAAA?open&r=3&p=0
******************** INTRANETS AND WEBSITES ********************
A recent whitepaper from James Robertson of Step Two Designs in
Australia:
* Worlds apart: the difference between intranets and websites
http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/kmc_intranetvsweb/index.html
Beyond using HTML, intranets and websites have very little in common.
These differences must be understood if design and development
projects are to succeed.
*********************** CREATIVE COMMONS ***********************
More and more I am coming across websites and weblogs licensed with
Creative Commons licences.
Creative Commons licenses help you share your work but allow you to
keep your copyright. Other people can copy and distribute your work,
but only on certain conditions.
Creative Commons provide four different types of licence that you can
choose form, for example the attribution licence lets others copy,
distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work - and
derivative works based upon it - but only if they give you credit.
Licences are available in three forms:
1. Commons Deed. A simple, plain-language summary of the license,
complete with the relevant icons.
2. Legal Code. The fine print that you need to be sure the license
will stand up in court.
3. Digital Code. A machine-readable translation of the license that
helps search engines and other applications identify your work by its
terms of use.
You can download and use these licences from Creative Commons for
free.
If you publish digital material on the web and want to know more take
a look at their website: http://creativecommons.org/
****************** KM DISASTERS & KM VICTORIES ******************
The monthly theme of the KnowledgeBoard for April is titled "KM
Disasters & KM Victories - How to measure the impact of your KM
initiative?"
http://www.knowledgeboard.com/themes/
****************** THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS? ******************
By Sheila Moorcroft, Business Futures
The sense of smell is reckoned to be one of the most deep seated
response triggers tapping into one of the oldest parts of the human
brain: smells can help us relax, bring back memories, attract us to
our partners, even help sell our homes if we bake bread just before
showing people round. Now, smells are being digitized, and that means
that they may soon be transmitted over the net.
At the moment, the ability to send smells over the net is being
targeted - not surprisingly - at advertising, food, perfume, gaming,
and tourism and France Telecom is apparently also developing an
'olfactory logo'.
Will smells become an integral part of corporate communications to
support and enhance corporate values? Will we instantly recognize and
respond to messages that have particular smells embedded into them?
But as far as I know smells do not have universal 'meaning' - what is
considered fresh and clean in one country is not always considered so
in another, so smells on an international medium such as the internet
may be problematic.
I know that publishers have tried scratch and smell cards in books to
bring history to life, how long might it be before films and TV
programmes come with smells too - although I am not sure if I really
want the smells of 17th century life, but never mind!
Sheila Moorcroft:
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/ID/X000D95AE?open&r=3&p=0
******************* WHERE DO IDEAS COME FROM? *******************
I recently posted an item to my weblog about capturing ideas and I
rather liked this reply from Susan Haydock in Milwaukee:
"I find that I can not force an idea. What I do is plant a seed. Let
it roll around in my head and then when I am most relaxed, toweling
off as David described, for me it is usually when I am engaged in
something else. It happens when I am no longer fussing over the seed.
Suddenly my idea breaks through and drowns out the present task, so
paper and pencil are necessary for idea catches, this can happen in
the car while driving, gardening, or whatever.
Everyone seems to have there own magic idea time.
I think it is becoming consciously competent of the circumstances
around which it will occur instead of unconsciously competent and
being surprised."
I have note pads, note books, cards and pens scattered around my
house and in my car - so whenever an idea surfaces - it stands no
chance of escape!
Where do ideas come from?:
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/ID/X00414486?open&r=3&p=0
********************** THE KNOWLEDGE CAFÉ **********************
I recently held my fifth Knowledge-Café. As ever, in my humble
opinion, it was a great success and I am starting to wonder if it is
actually possible to run a bad one (I should not tempt fate!) as the
success of the café relies not so much on me (the organizer) or even
the facilitator but on the enthusiasm, openness and willingness to
talk of the people attending the café and so far I don't see any
shortage of that!
If you are based in or around London why not come along.
Knowledge Café home page:
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/ID/X0024749E?open&p=0
Next Knowledge Cafe - Monday 28th April 2003
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/ID/X00483F1E?open&r=3&p=0
********************* PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT *********************
On the home page of my website, I say it is about knowledge
management, learning, creativity, innovation and personal
development. It is a rich blend of these subjects and more. Yes in
many ways it is a KM resource site but more and more I see it as
personal development site.
Nearly all the pages (over 2,500 of them) on my site are categorized.
The top three categories, rated by hits, are Knowledge Management,
Personal Knowledge Management and Personal Development. Take a look -
there are over 500 pages in these categories alone.
Category:Knowledge Management:
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/ID/X00006DBA?open&r=3&p=0
Category:Personal Knowledge Management:
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/ID/X00028452?open&r=3&p=0
Category:Personal Development:
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/ID/X0000730E?open&r=3&p=0
********************* WHAT ARE TROJAN MICE? *********************
Interested in understanding the concept of complex adaptive systems
and their application to organizational form? Then take a look at
Peter Fryer's website Trojan Mice. You also get to learn what Trojan
Mice are all about : http://www.trojanmice.com/
*********************** KNOWLEDGE-RAFFLE ***********************
At any time there is always at least one item in my raffle. Currently
I have the book The Future of Knowledge by Verna Alle. And if you are
in the UK, a free place on the upcoming conference "KM meets
e-Learning".
Knowledge-Raffle:
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/ID/X0028667E?open&p=0
Verna Alle:
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/ID/X0020F076?open&r=3&p=0
KM meets e-Learning:
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/ID/X00456A92?open&r=3&p=0
