Web-Tones

Rainmakers, Raincollectors & KM

When it comes to knowledge management business organizations are highly interested in capturing the tacit knowledge of their rainmakers. Why? Well because these are the folks that have the know how to drive revenue--they are are the hunters that keep the organization fed. If the organization could figure out (and capture) how they do what they do then institutional memory would improve and the knowledge doesn't walk out the door each time a rainmaker decides to make rain somewhere else.

The problem is that most rainmakers are too busy making rain and have no bandwidth (we'll save the incentive question for another post) to collect it. If you want revenue (who doesn't) then you need to keep rainmakers happy, if you want knowledge management then you need to inspire, educate, reward and otherwise enable the raincollectors (associates, secretaries, paralegals, IT staff) that can get close enough (through relationship building) to collect a little rain. Have them master the technologies and processes first on their own "stuff" and organically grow the knowledge base toward the edges of the organization where the rainmakers roam.

Related Tags: Law 2.0, Law2.0, KM, Knowledge Management

Snake Oil, KM & the Practice of Law

Tim Berners-Lee has the following to say about the parallels between how our brains work & the Web:

A piece of information is really defined only by what it's related to and how it's related. There is really little else to meaning. The structure is everything. There are billions of neurons in our brains, but what are neurons? Just cells. The brain has no knowledge until connections are made between neurons. All that we know, all that we are come from the way our neurons are connected.

Knowledge management is all the rage again in law practice management circles, and rightfully so because it is an important topic. But we are all babes in the woods in this space and I can assure you that KM is more about connections (most importantly of the people-to-people kind), context, and story telling than about any technology de jour: document management, wiki's, Web 2.0, Intranets, etc. While all of these technologies are important enablers, they are no substitute in and of themselves for a culture of sharing and contribution. Vendors that are peddling technology centric solutions are selling pure snake oil & throwing in the snake for free. The heavy lifting requires changing the culture, so ignore cultural issues at your own risk, otherwise this snake bite is likely to be both painful & expensive!

Related Tags: KM, Wiki, Web 2.0, Web2.0, Law 2.0

Winner Take All Culture

Josh Howard of the Dallas Mavericks made a critical mistake last night in the 5th game of the NBA playoffs. One that Josh should lose lots of sleep over, so that it rarely happens again. He missed two critical free throws at crunch time that could have made all the difference between winning & losing. The little timeout episode he should just chalk up to shit happens. Josh, don't lose any sleep over this nonsense, making a mistake like that does not make you a loser, it make you human. Unfortunately this winner take all culture of ours is going to blow this incident up so much that if you pay attention to them an army of shrinks won't be able to help you!

There is a story that in the early days of IBM a green sales executive had botched a $5 million dollar deal (in the days when $5M was real money). A reporter/bystander (whatever) asked Thomas Watson (founder) if he was going to fire the employee, and he responded with "fire him? I just payed $5 million dollars for his education."

Related Tags: Heat, Mavericks, Josh Howard, NBA

New Media, Geeks Still Rule

Geoffrey Moore has some new media insights as well as other pearls of wisdom from the networked economy that provide a glimpse of our current inflection point. From the transformation of journalism as we know it, to context sensitive rich content in everything from on-line marketing messages to on-line how to training guides, new media (synergistic combination of text, audio & video) is poised, like a disruptive tsunami, to wash over industry after industry, despite the best efforts of incumbents to keep its forces at bay.

Video is king and the ability to create low cost high quality videos with products such as Camtasia Studio is turning what I wrote about in knowledge management & infotainment into an every-man's reality! New Media, used in innovative and disruptive ways, in combination with the Web as platform meme, is the engine that will drive the user revolution embodied in what Doc Searls calls the "Because Of" factor. The trans-formative quality of innovative uses of emerging enabling technologies is the next "killer app." This is the realm of geeks of a different sort; geeks with deep domain knowledge (in any industry you care to name) and the ability to effectively communicate it.

Related Tags: Web2.0, Web 2.0, Geek, Searls, Because Of, New Media

Wealth of Networks

Yochai Benkler has written a tome that Lawrence Lessig has said is the most important book on the topic in the last decade. Coming from Lessig that is a huge compliment since he has written an enormous amount on related topics. This recommendation will not disappoint. This book is nothing short of the equivalent of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations for the post-modern information economy. A simple "Gladwell like" writing style coupled with the rigor of academic research makes this book an astonishing achievement. Bits and pieces of accumulated "net wisdom" is found here in one place, with a theoretical underpinning and organizational structure that both pleases and informs.

I must however provide the following warning: the book has an easy style but because of its substance (and length) it is not an easy read. But, want to know all you need to know about the "net neutrality" issue, you will find it here. Want to know why blogs are transforming journalism and becoming the new "fourth estate," you will find it here. Want to know why and how "peer production" (i.e. open source) has transformed software development and is threatening to transform other industries (though clearly only those with certain characteristics), you will find that here as well. In short, this book is a must read for any serious student of the Internet and the transformational qualities of the communications infrastructure that underpins it.

Related Tags: Benkler, Lessig, Wealth of Networks

Not Ready To Make Nice

The Dixie Chicks have shown more courage and integrity than most politicians; whatever the political import of their statements, the response from some "fans" is indicative of what can happen when hatred is used to divide a nation. I have yet to hear any politician, from either side of the aisle, condemn the fan behavior. I guess that politicians are all too ready to make nice, do not have the courage of their convictions (i.e. are unwilling to take risks), and then wonder why voters are apathetic. Here are three courageous women willing to emotionally challenge the nation's drifting sense of right and wrong.

They may have lost some "fans" but they are gaining others by the thousands. By challenging hatred head on, and making no excuses about it, they are providing a much needed example for the rest of us, who often live our lives pretending not to see the elephant in the room of our nation's house. This house is in dire need of some repair, otherwise Lincoln's famous words may yet live to haunt us, again.

Related Tags: Dixie Chicks, Anthem, Music