This week I wrote a couple of pieces on Knowledge Management for the Far Eastern Economic Review — a sort of overview of KM for the layman, and a column on corporate blogging, centred around Robert Scoble. (Both are subscription only, I’m afraid. The WSJ version of the column will appear here next week.) Here’s a taster:
ONCE UPON A TIME there was an evil bespectacled king called Bill who ran nearly 98% of the world, imposing on it bloated software solutions and enslaving it in usurious licensing agreements. Resentment of Bill was so widespread that all the king’s public relations and philanthropic works couldn’t put his image back together again. Then, one day, along came a rather chubby computer marketer called Robert Scoble who, via his on-line journal, or blog, turned it all around. Suddenly everybody liked the king again and bought all his products. (Well, at least, they didn’t resent him quite so much, and even spoke to him at parties.)
Anyway, I wanted to thank everyone who helped me get my brain around KM, and my apologies to those I couldn’t include in the piece, and to those who feel I got it all, or any of it, horribly wrong. As a journalist, I can honestly say writing about KM is not easy.
I know your article is a little old, but still relevant for today. I think the interesting progression for Microsoft has been the organic nature of the change. It’s been through leadership and inspiration rather than direction. Scoble’s projects have shown others in the company what to do, and they have followed.
I was re-reading the cluetrain manifesto and realized that Microsoft with Scoble’s help is the first large company to follow its tenants. Can you think of any other companies who have progressed so far, or need too?