Points of Contexture

Thriving in the Age of Complexity - With no answers, only choices

You are hearing more and more that the current recession has bottomed out, that the economic crisis is easing as job losses slow and we are beginning to see confidence return to the marketplace.  This is good news indeed as we turn from survival and begin to look forward.

 Nevertheless, the global business environment is becoming more and more interconnected and complex.

The future will see new uncertainties, ambiguities and even more surprises.  Our world is acting as a complex system, and what we are now experiencing is just a taste of what will undoubtedly come.

Climate Change, Global Warming, et al: What’s missing in the public debate?

As Congress considers the "American Clean Energy and Security Act" this week (the house has narrowly passed their version 219-212 as of this writing), you would think that by now there would be a clear and general consensus on the issue in the USA - its challenges, implications for our future well-being (survival?) and focused actions.  And by now, you would think that Climate Change (or Global Warming if you prefer) would be top of mind in this country.

Well, at least from what I see, there is no consensus, and the issue ranks dead last in the minds of voters.  That’s what happens when an issue has not been made personal and timely.

When I talk to friends about climate change (global warming or any other name you choose), the conversation usually comes around to “How will it affect me”?  For those who are still on the fence about it, the question is always preceded by “If it is real…”

And when I ask them (on either side of the issue) how they think it will affect them, they simply can’t describe that future for themselves, and don’t even try for their children or grandchildren.

So I have been thinking about some things:

1. What’s keeping so many people on the fence about the issue?
2. What’s causing so many people not to feel an imperative for immediate action?
3. What’s preventing people from understanding the issue?

I suddenly realized last week that three things are clouding the ability of people to come to grips with the issue:

1. The issue is huge - so big that most people can’t get their arms around it, much less understand it
2. The issue is still abstract - understanding and dealing with abstract concepts is something people don’t want to do and is very difficult to do when they do
3. The issue is simply not personal yet – and this might just be the biggest reason of all

Personal Work Space: to Order, or not to Order?

Since I posted "To Study, Perchance to Dream?" on April 29th,  I have received a number of email and phone comments - enough to know I am not the only one thinking about the issue of personal work space, and how to deal with it, especially in the home.

I came across this article, "An Orderly Office? That's Personal" by Sara Rimer in the New York Times (and yes, it was in one of those "stacks" in a very neat blue file folder, along with some others I had forgotten about!). A well narrated story of one person's struggle, considerations, discoveries and solution.  It rang true for me, and I bet it will for most of you all too. Enjoy!

To Study, Perchance to Dream?

I was reading in my den a few nights ago and realized I had stacks of papers, articles, books and magazines lying in a semi-circle around my chair.  Looking around, I noticed that I had two “current reading” folders of things printed off the Web (I still like to read off paper) brought down from my upstairs office.

And these weren’t just the typical current reading one usually has lying around the favorite chair – some of them were more than three months old.  I realized this when my wife hinted rather subtly that perhaps it was time to shorten the stacks, or better yet, move them to the upstairs office – something about dusting and vacuuming being hindered by the piles (now no longer “stacks”).

I thought I should go upstairs and make room before I started the heavy lifting (yep, there was that much).  To my surprise, I had no reading of any kind on my desk, only client, project and other files I was working on.  Even I could see that something’s going on here I hadn’t thought about before.

An Open Letter: Leadership and Strategy in the Crisis

January 5, 2009

 

To Whom It May Concern:

 

Significant changes in your environment require an immediate strategic review to refocus your competitive advantage.  Strategy is all about future differences, creating your future, the competitive difference you can bring, and how you identify and take advantage of the resulting new opportunities.  In this economic crisis, in this critical moment, how you chose to act and respond will have far reaching impacts for you and your organization.

Now is the time for reconsidered strategy - for your organization, your business units, and your alliances and partnerships – creating precise actions aligned with that strategy, with an eye ready to see the opportunities that are clearly beginning to emerge.

While the jury is out on how long this crisis will continue, one thing is sure:  The world simply will not look nor act the same afterwards.

The Pervasive Expectations of Instantaneous Response

As communications speed up, driven by technology advancements, there is always a trade off - detail for speed, or speed for detail.  Most people opt for speed, which of course means little time for context and understanding.  And one thing critical for tight and concise communication and understanding over time, exformation (explicitly discarded information) doesn't really occur.

 

This means that the biggest issue for technology improved communications (more speed seems to be the choice and  emphasis),  is that there is less and less understanding of what is being communicated faster and faster, with still the expectation of instantaneous response.

 

This is just one of the implications of the pervasive pressure of Expectations of Instantaneous Response.

Knowledge Tense: Past, Present and Future

One of the concepts Steve Barth and I have been developing is the idea of Knowledge Tense. We spoke to it at KM World in 2007, and then again I used it in the context of innovation at KM World 2008 in a workshop.

We wanted to distinguish between past, present and future tense knowledge, not having seen or heard this distinction before. Needless to say, we are just beginning to think about knowledge this way. 

Strategy in the Current Crisis: Thinking and Acting in the Recession

One of the more interesting topics of recent conversation is the idea that this economic crisis really has no model or pattern that is discernable from past downturns and crises.

 

I was listening to Nassim Taleb (The Black Swan) this past Sunday morning on Fareed Zakaria's (The Post-America World) GPS show: He and the other roundtable members made some very compelling points about the unique nature of the current crisis.  And after listening to some other folks, and thinking about some recent work I have done, there are some critical new ways of thinking you need in this crisis.

Increased Innovation Flows through Collaborative Innovation Architecture

I’ll be leading a 3-hour workshop on how knowledge management professionals can facilitate the innovation processes in their organizations at the KM World 2008 Conference & Exhibition on Monday, September 22, from 1:30 – 4:30 pm.

The conference and exhibition runs September 22-25 at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California.

Facilitating the creation and flow of present and future knowledge in support of innovation is a key process for most organizations. KM managers and practitioners are in unique positions to facilitate this knowledge creation and flow—when they have the right perspective, tools and techniques.

Using collaborative innovation architecture, this workshop explores the innovation process; maps tools and techniques between innovation and KM; and creates templates, checklists, and models. By using real-world examples and those from the participants, the workshop group works through selected critical components of the architecture, providing real and immediate applications for their organizations.

Inutition's Role in Decision Making-Redux

At KM World 2007 last week, after my presentation with Steve Barth, I was asked about an apparent conflict in the way intuitive sensing, sense making and decision making works compared to decision making using business intelligence (BI) systems. Actually they don't conflict at all, unless we make or let them - they all work together!