Michael Sampson

New Blog Address ... currents.michaelsampson.net

Update: This material has moved to the currents.michaelsampson.net web site.

Notes on "Final Keynote: Dave Snowden Pulling It All Together" (Dave Snowden)

Opening quote on the screen:

"Knowledge management was a theory or rather a Weltanschauung supported by dysfunctional technology, while social computing represents an increasingly functional technology utilizing dysfunctional and outmoded theory."

Focus: to put some things together ... to build basic theory, and then at new and emergent methods. How do you effectively do system design and project management.

Taxonomy based design and other hierarchical approaches are bound to fail ... there has to be room for human intervention. Eg, a new computer system that co-evolved with human intelligence, showing people what the system thought, and what the people were doing.

System development is not a linear progression.
- doing system requirements, then getting sign-off, then building systems ... bound to fail from the very beginning.
- complete distributed computing challenges many ideas about system design.
- co-evolution is a key concept ... eg, the brain and language co-evolve. We don't remember the same thing in the same way twice.

Dave's key concepts:
- Everything is fragmented. Found that summarization of documents is perhaps the wrong thing to do, because it's access to the broad underlying fragments that are really helpful. People reasoning from the fragments can make much more effective decisions, than those who work from summarized information.
- ... if this is the case, why is KM about putting summarization on the portal? Is it any wonder that people are leaping outside of the current systems.
- People make decisions based on patterns. The only people who make rational decisions are autistic ... everyone else knows there is too much information for making true rational decisions. We don't process information to make decisions. See The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. The two departments at University who are partially autistic are economics and computer science.
- People by nature are messy. We create structures that work for a while, but then it breaks down and becomes messy, and then we re-structure again. This is made possible through social computing.
- Complexity and constraint ... there are three types of systems ... an audit system (the system constrains all behavior; works okay with a stable and closed system), a chaotic system, and a complex-adaptive system (light constraints enforced by the system, but people can make changes). The latter one can't be managed or predicted in the future. Story: planning a party for 12 year old boys ... on three different ways.
- The more you put structures in place, the more you can't see the real patterns. Have to shift from a fail-safe design to safe-fail experimentation.
- Natural numbers ... 5 plus or minus 2, 15 is the maximum number of people you can trust, 150 is the maximum number of people we can have some acquaintance with. What works with small groups DOES NOT scale to much higher numbers. Fail to notice the human dynamics of collaboration.

On Methods
Existing methods:
- narrative based requirements ... after 2-3 interviews, you will see what you have already seen. Therefore huge cognitive bias if you do interviews. One of Dave's approaches is to collect 20000-30000 stories from the field, and then ask people to tag these into a central system. The metadata adds meaning to the content. Main metadata elicitation question: "What are the keywords about your story?", not "What are the keywords in your story."
- cross silo self-forming teams ... get people to self-form into teams that have constraints. Allow people to self-form and to structure the problem in the way that works best.
- manage emergence

Emergent methods:
- "crews" ... eg, you go on tour, and you go on watch. You become someone else during being on tour ... you assume a role. Rituals will activate certain behaviors and patterns. Identify key roles and in expectation of roles. You don't mind if people switch out of the team, because you can find another person who can do the role. A crew also gives a way of distributing authority without challenging status.
- "coherence mapping"

Summary
(photo to come)

Notes on "Intranet 2.0 in 10 Not-So-Easy Steps" (Darren Gibbons, OpenRoad)

In the penultimate presentation of the conference, save Dave Snowden on the closing keynote, Darren Gibbons is speaking on Intranet 2.0 in 10 Not-So-Easy Steps. See thoughtfarmer.com. (Stacy, a member of the ActKM List is in the room.)

How did we get here?
- 1994, a Web-based intranet for Sun Microsystems.
- 1996, a publishing mechanism for Mercantile Intranet.
- today, eHarmony, an Intranet "2.0"

What is Intranet 2.0?
- various features ... blogs, wikis, email, search, RSS ... lots and lots of buzzword
- it's easy to get caught up in the features and functionality ... but we start to get away from the promise and miss the benefits if we do this.
- rather than getting into detailed description, let's look at the key concepts
- ... top-down vs bottom-up
- ... silos vs transparency
- ... broadcast vs conversation (getting in contact with the people who have the information they need)
- ... friction (barriers to publishing -- special tools, permissions, special syntax; cognitive friction -- having to work with a complex system that challenges the user's mental model) vs flow (fully immersed in what you are doing)

10 Not-So-Easy-Steps
The 10 steps:
- (1) blow up the old intranet ... stop the old ways of doing things.
- (2) turn users into authors ... "Edit this Page" is critical, security is as open as possible, and versioning and soft-security (the system knows who I am; traceability back to the individual). No workflow (maybe, "workflow is workslow")
- (3) email-free Wednesdays ... "email is where information goes to die" (says Eric, "only if you don't know how to use it")
- (4) add signals ... alerts and notifications of new content ... RSS would be an alternative.
- (5) provide scaffolding ... sample structures for people to use.
- (6) hold a barnraising ... get a group of people together for a few days and get them to do content migration from the old to the new. Having a fully populated employee directory is really important.
- (7) "Make them use it. Once." ... hold a training session and get people to step through a worksheet (in 30-45 minutes, cover the main highlights and parts of functionality)
- (8) lead by example ...
- (9) expose the social context ... self-maintained employee profiles, allowing a bit of fun
- (10) get the intranet "in the flow" ... wikis as "in the flow" and wikis as "above the flow". See Socialtext re these ideas. "In the flow" as the place to work and collaborate.

Michael's Thoughts
There was an implicit point here, which Darren didn't say: "the use of these tools is predicated on a change from local productivity tools to ones on the Intranet". That is, work and processes that are currently done using email and documents are shifted to applications on the Intranet.

Notes on "SharePoint Search in a Legal Environment" (Jennifer McNenly & Matthew Frederick)

Jennifer and Matthew from Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP talked about SharePoint search in a legal environment. I missed the first part of the talk because I was talking to Steve from iDatix on the exhibition floor.

From what I heard, they worked out a process of crawling all of their content every night, and for any new or updated content (in SharePoint document libraries, intranet, business data catalog), they had a way of applying metadata. Some things would be flagged for human review (to add more metadata), using a tagging tool they created.

Once they had the content, they created a SharePoint Managed Property for each item in the metadata standard. Were able to mapped crawled properties from each content source to the managed properties.

Created "Best Bets" from user suggestions, consultation with KM lawyers, common task lists, stats on usage.

Did some work to enhance the search interface and results display. They also changed the Advanced Search screen in SharePoint, customizing it to add their metadata properties. Searching was tested with content owners.

The team working on this project had a good sponsor, specifically the Director of KM. Helped with securing the budget, promoting the project to management, and engaging the content owners.

On the Exhibition Floor with Traction Software (KMWorld & Intranets 2008)

Traction is a collection of spaces, for projects. Based on project permissions, you get to see certain things. You can have certain functions shown in certain sections, eg, a portlet. You can tag a given piece of content in any space, and then have sections to show certain tags. This will be a permissions-filtered list. Can post comments on paragraph level, and can comment on comments.

In Version 4.0, have added some new things. In the email digest, it now does threading. And if you see new comments added the next day, it still gets the old main comment heading.

In Version 4.0, have added moderation in place. This means that people can write future editions of content, and hold it for a future time. Certain people see these as ghosted entries, that means fully written but not yet published. Can see a full edit history, and if I have rights to see draft entries, can see draft and published items, and inter-compare.

Page name changing is another new feature.

See tractionsoftware.com

On the Exhibition Floor with iDatix Corporation (KMWorld & Intranets 2008)

Steve is showing a complete document management, workflow and capture delivered through the Web. Most deployments take 14-30 days. The application is called iSynergy.
- tends not to require change management work, because it is so intuitive to use.
- captures paper records into a document library with automatic metadata extraction. Eg, can integrate into the HP Digital Sender, and 450 scanners.
- fully integrated solution
- drag-and-drop design client for building workflows. Called "Progression Studio". Has referential checking for ensuring the workflow is complete.
- become the records management solution, and centralized point of authorization.
- iLink is another application from iDatix, and it allows the integration of iSynergy into other applications with no coding.
- ... eg, adding a button to Microsoft Calculator to find a check from the check application, based on a value entered into calculator
- ... these modifications are centralized managed, and can be pushed out.
- notification icon on the tray, for alerting you to new work.
- do not have a Mac client, but are planning a viewer for the Mac.

Some very neat ideas in here ... check them out at www.idatix.com.

Notes on "Web 2.0 for KM: Accelerating Collaboration and Knowledge Transfer" (Darcy Lemons and Gerry Swift, APQC)

Darcy and Gerry from APQC are speaking on Web 2.0 for KM: Accelerating Collaboration and Knowledge Transfer, based on a 2007 research study. APQC is three fold ... (1) to conduct research to find best practices, (2) to disseminate them, and (3) to connect people-to-content that helps them do their work.

Agenda:
- background
- study and themes

Background to the Study
- the study had 30 sponsors ("the learners") ... eg, Bank of Canada, Deere & Co., IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Solvay, US Air Force, Vale Inco. Many different industries.
- the players ... the "best practice sponsors" ... Accenture, HP, Royal Dutch Shell, Siemens AG, and the US Department of State. These five were chosen through careful research. Looking for the organizations that are doing interesting things, ask subject matter experts about who they should be talking to, attending conferences to see who is talking.

Project scope:
- #1 ... to align IM strategy, architecture, and components to support knowledge transfer.
- #2 ... integrate IM and KM initiatives
- #3 ... address organizational and cultural issues
- #4 ... evaluate the current and future trends in technology

About the Study
The revolution in social computing:
- the locus of control is moving from institutions to individuals, communities and self-organized networks. Users decide and launch the tools they want. They invite whom they want to collaborate with.
- the responsibility for content is shifting and becoming more democratized. Eg, value is determined by users, its shifting from expertise to experience.

Social computing has high potential:
- can link people who have similar interests and knowledge
- can share relevant and useful content and sources, based on user feedback
- provide user-driven content that is less dependent on content managers
- ... by ... reducing barriers to use, giving users more control over the tools, and making it more fun.

Themes and Findings
- KM is decentralized in some of the organizations. Eg, HP, Siemens and Shell. There is loose collaboration between the different parts of each firm (my term would be "human facilitated collaboration"), not formal structures. The other two had more centralized KM structures.
- wikis are used in diverse sectors for diverse needs. Eg, project teams, glossaries, to update policies and procedures, competition tracking, bug tracking.
- social bookmarking, tagging and folksonomies ... not so much used, but are on their radar. HP ... experimenting with social bookmarking, not widely adopted yet.
- social networking and blogs ... aim was to emulate the Web-based social networking tools in their corporate expertise location and profiling systems. Firms are thinking about the governance strategy for blogs.

Theme ... "Using 2.0 tools does not require new communication policies"
- the best practice organizations have had nil intentional misuse
- already have ... ethics codes and annual training, confidentiality notices and training, self-policing, etc.

Theme ... "KM and IT are working very closely to test and understand Enterprise 2.0 tools"
- they are acting as internal consultants to the user communities, by scoping the proper deployment of tools, and helping with user training and adoption where needed.
- Accenture ... SharePoint as fundamental enterprise platform, plus a range of newer things
- a challenge ... do these system collide, or they connect in some way? The best practice organizations provide a learning laboratory to explore these things.

Theme ... "slow and steady wins the change management race"
- less formal change management techniques were better. Deployment tends to be grassroots and adoption is viral within the communities. Viral and iterative approaches to introduction and roll-out.
- HP used soft incentives.

Theme ... "organizations use activity measures and success stories to gauge value of 2.0 tools"
- driving value is harder than driving use. Value is often personal and local.
- most partners rely on activity measures of adoption, user surveys for value, and stories of capture and reuse.

Michael's Thoughts
The things that appeared to be working best were direct and easy correlates to current working practices, eg, from Word to a wiki. The "paradigm-breaking things", eg, social bookmarking, were less adopted.

I Skyped Eric during the session and said that my question was "Given that all of this material has already been said in the news and blogs for the past few years, what is the knowledge that you have added through this study?" He said, "validation". Okay ... there you have it.

Notes on "How to Measure Web 2.0 Content" (Carmine Porco)

Carmine Porco from Prescient Digital Media is talking about How to Measure Web 2.0 Content.

The big ideas:
- social networks ... the power of group ... the wisdom of the crowd. "Who wants to be a millionaire: the crowd gets it right 91% of the time". Google gets it ... utilizes page ranking to gather collective intelligence.
- social media is about promoting networks of relationships; a variety of tools
- various social media forms, eg, social networks, RSS, open source software, blogs, etc.
- 6 of the top 12 sites visited on the web are social media sites.
- social media is about the transition from publishing to participation. Web 1.0 stuff gets pushed at you, and Web 2.0 enables you to talk back.
- BBC, "we don't own the news anymore". BBC is now a "facilitator of the news"
- social media is an important channel for managing reputation
- ... eg, think of the Kryptonite lock (2004) problem. The firm had to replace 380,000 locks
- the Internet is widely used ... for online purchases, for decision-making research, online banking
- word of mouth is a very effective form of advertising
- an example ... BT's My Pages ... business links to documents that may be interesting, pages I've created, stuff I'm working on
- ... also BTPedia ... has become the central platform for enterprise-wide wiki-based collaboration
- ... other examples ... Sun Microsystems (Community Equity tool), WebNext (Project 90/10, 90% of the intranet home page is personalized for each user), IBM's ThinkPlace (grassroot idea collection), IBM Sametime 7.5 (VoIP for free calling), IBM Second Life (online virtual meetings), and Sabre Town (ask questions and post questions; 60% are answered with an hour)
- Red Cross is actively recruiting bloggers, because it helps with fundraising.
- intranetblog.com is Presient Digital Media's blog. Went to 4000 people in 400 days, and Google rankings for "intranet consultant" and "intranet consulting" went to #1. Increased corporate consulting revenue by 40%. Has become a primary source for winning new clients.
- don't use a wiki as your content management system; use it for a collaborative workspace.
- communities of practice ... for subject-matter experts to share practices

How do we measure all of this?
- see Melcrum Publishing (July 2008), the "Intranets and Social Media Survey"
- track who is talking about you or your industry ... blog services, message boards, bookmarking sites. Have to monitor the tools to track the conversations. Will need dedicated personnel and a process.
- tools to use ... Hitwise, WordTracker, BlogSquirrel, and CNW.
- see Google Keyword Tools, can see search frequency for certain and related links
- www.wholinkstome.com

... and more.

Notes on "Awards Program for the Intranets Innovations Awards 2008" (James Robertson, Step Two Designs)

James Robertson from Step Two Designs is presenting the awards for the recent Intranet Innovations Awards 2008. The program is about highlighting innovative ideas in Intranets, not an award for intranets as a whole.

"Winning entries include Fuller Landau (Canada), Syngenta (Switzerland), Swiss Post (Switzerland), Transfield Services (Australia), British Airways (UK), Scottrade (USA), Urbis (Australia), Janssen-Cilag (Australia) and YHA (UK)."

Notes on Keynote "Search 3.0 Knowledge Management and Discovery" (Peter Morville)

Peter Morville (see Semantic Studios) is giving the keynote on day 3 of KMWorld & Intranets 2008.

Peter's main argument: search is a critical part of knowledge management. To do it right, we have to focus on two things at the same time ... the details, and the big picture.

Peter's background ... library and information science, faculty at University of Michigan, and author of various books, eg, Ambient Findability (2006), Search Patterns (2009).

On Information Architecture
- Information architecture ... more than about organization, also about controlled vocab, taxonomy, more than the Web, findability. Balance of art and science. Requires creativity and risk taking.
- provide multiple paths to get to the same information. Eg, multiple navigation starting points.
- information architecture requires a good understanding of user experience.
- "usability" is important, but the term is over-used and little-understood.
- one of Peter's contribution is the value honeycomb (see below) that teases value and usability apart. Eg, usefulness, desirability, accessibility, and more. "Valuable" is in the middle to remind everyone of the need to drive business value.

- can look at each of the honeycomb areas in isolation ("let's do a credibility audit") and in relation to each other.
- Google and Wikipedia have a very intimate relationship in searches and knowledge participation. Google will point to Wikipedia content high in search results, and people contribute to Wikipedia because they know it will be found. Enterprises need to strive for a similar symbiosis.

Case Study: National Cancer Institute
The National Cancer Institute (see www.cancer.gov) wanted to improve its ability to provide information to cancer sufferers. Peter needed to argue that the role of the Web site was to do more that provide great information, but actually to go beyond and make it more widely findable.

Enterprise Findability
- AIIM market research study ... really bad findability in the enterprise.
- a Fortune 500 company ("that shall remain nameless") had very bad findability systems internally
- enterprise findability is IA + KM + Search. In collaboration, IA is emergent and there is a need to observe, shepherd and harness the learning to make things navigable, searchable, etc. Search needs to work across multiple systems

Looking into the Future
- information architects need to look to the past (to learn from lessons) and to the future (our systems will be in place for a long time).
- "findability" ... the ability to find anyone or anything from anywhere at anytime. There are a lot of privacy issues with this.
- "chain libraries" ... in the Middle Ages, books were chained to library desks to stop them from being lost.
- "a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention" (Herbert Simon)
- how is the wealth of information impacting on our ability to make decisions.
- Peter talked about Ambient Devices, and some of the capabilities to alert people to information things, eg, new email.
- "the Internet of objects" ... the ability to find physical objects that have been tagged, and to display location on the screen. Eg, a hospital saving $28,000 per month trying to find hospital wheelchairs, by tagging wheelchairs.
- see The Transparent Society for a great book on privacy.
- in a world of lots of information, how do we create much bigger needles

- metadata has become central to the blogosphere ... and it's a great idea, but it's not enough. Needs to meet tradition approaches, like IA and taxonomy.
- the "future of findability" ... in 5-10 years, we'll still be using a search box as the main place to start.
- search is iterative, interactive and a process of learning. See Marcia Bates (1989).

- search involves looking at a whole set of issues ... who the user is, what are they looking for, defining content policies, search result interfaces (critical when users get stuck).
- see Peter's Flickr photostream on search patterns (primary research for his 2009 book on this)
- some behavior patterns, eg, narrowing, search & browse & ask, and pearl grow.
- quite a few design patterns, eg:
- ... best bets (a few good starting points suggested by humans)
- ... federated search (users don't know where to look, searching based on topic and not held apart by format)
- ... faceted navigation (multiple ways to search and browse in combination, deals with the need for narrowing, provides a map of the search results)
- ... auto-suggest (guess ahead on starting search strings)
- ... structured results (eg, see how Google does this below)

- ... social search (showing the inter-relationship between content and people; IBM is doing great work in this area on its W3 intranet, especially by giving a preview)
- ... media search (for images and video, by color and shape and pattern)
- ... spime search (eg, for searching real world objects in a shop)
- ... redefining search (think Google Books, "expanding the searchable web") (creating links between physical objects and the web)

Exploring Possible Futures
- there are a huge range of possible futures in search ... with possible design ideas, and many different design tools.
- key final statement: search is a wicked problem ... lots of uncertainties and incompletes. The problem in never solved.