Monday 23 November 2015

How to use the Knowledge management Pull Matrix

Here is a really interesting blog post from NASA entitled "how rocket scientists learn" by Yasmin Fodil

It contains much that is interesting, and makes three main conclusions - 

  • Knowledge Management at Goddard (NASA) is all about people
  • Social Media Can Enhance Learning (but relationships matter)
  • Learning in Public is Hard, but Worth It.
It also contains the following matrix


Yasmin describes the table as follows

So as an individual trying to learn, I have my own experiences, which I can reflect on and share with others during pause-and-learns, through job rotations, case studies, and lessons learned documents. In turn, I can learn from case studies and lessons learned from other projects, which I can engage with by simply reading about, attending workshops, or engaging with my peers.

I like the concept, and particularly like the fact that is the whole matrix is pull-driven - "Who can I learn from", "What can I learn", "How can I learn it" - all driven by knowledge-seeking.

This is refreshingly different from the more normal "who can I share with", "where shall I store this" conversation. It's like a personal Knowledge Management Plan - all that's missing is the "What do I need to learn" element.

I would like to extend the table a bit, because there is a big jump between "my friends" and "the whole organisation". We could include in this, for example, "my project team", and "my community of practice", both of which are organisational constructs which don't necessarily map onto "my friends". Also, "company experts" are a source of learning too

Here's my extended version


I hope this is useful

3 comments:

FraVer said...

Dear Nick, Thanks for sharing !! Best regards , Frank

Eli Miron said...

Interesting post.

Nick,

1. Please explain what do you mean by journaling.
2. In "Lessons" do you mean "Lessons Learned" ?

Nick Milton said...

Hi Eli

Journaling represents keeping a learning journal, perhaps as part of onboarding and training. If this is online, it is a blog

Regarding the Lessons Database, I dont like to use the term "Lessons Learned" until the lessons actually heave been learned, and embedded into the working procedures or reference material. Until that point, I like the military term "Lessons Identified". The lessons database, or even better a lessons management system, can be part of a system moving lessons from "identified" to "learned"

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