Institutional memory LO9031

Joe Katzman (joe@embanet.com)
Mon, 12 Aug 96 00:55:04 -0500

Replying to LO8840 --

> We are starting a project to build a knowledge network/knowledge
> management system, and would like to figure out how to capture
> our own experiences, wrong turns, mistakes, successes, lessons
> learned during the process etc. among the group who are building
> the system (both systems/tools and subject experts on the group).

As I understand it, there's a software tool that works with Lotus Notes
which is supposed to be designed expressly to help enable this sort of
thing and manage projects too. It's called "The Business Intelligence
System" and its developer is Nova Data of Oakville, Ontario, Canada.

I read a very favourable review of this product in a computing
publication, and if the reviewer is accurate about what it can do it looks
very promising for you. I confess that I lack personal experience with it,
however; try contacting (SD.Lebovich@sympatico.ca) for more information.

> would be responsible for collecting the experiences of everyone,
> and somehow sharing this with others. They are rather resistant
> to using Lotus Notes as the vehicle for capturing/sharing the
> on-going process, however (even though we are at the same time
> implementing Lotus Notes in the institution).

Notes may be a cumbersome tool for this without help. See if improving the
tool via Nova Data's product makes people happier about working with it.
If not, you CAN accomplish all of this via a normal web-based intranet
system...but someone has to take the time to compile, filter, and
summarize the information for posting.

Good on you for being interested in this project, BTW. That kind of "rear
view mirror" role is one that will become increasingly valauable and
recognized in knowledge-based organizations. Hurst, Zimmerman and others
have noted that this kind of "making sense of the past" orientation is
very valuable in organizations whose management is based more around
concepts related to chaos/complexity theory (as LOs and knowledge
organizations are) and less around conventional Newtonian hierarchies. The
latter emphasize planning forward to eliminate uncertainty. When a
turbulent environment makes that kind of certain planning chancy or even
fanciful, looking back is a good way to help tease out the lessons of the
past and perhaps find the attractors underneath all the chaos.

Hope this helps.

-- 

Joe Katzman, MBA joe@embanet.com

Communications And Technology (C.A.T.) Consulting Business Consulting, Internet Training, & Web Design

"The more you know, the more you can imagine."

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>