ikms newsletter

EDITOR’S NOTE

It’s been a busy few months since our last issue. In this issue, you will find useful tips on how to create higher-quality results at meetings by “Asking Powerful Question” that can motivate and inspire. In addition, if you have not heard about the powerful idea of “The Tipping Point” in Malcolm Gladwell’s book, you should read the book review because it is inevitable that his idea will soon become a concept that everyone knows about.

On the news front, check out the updates and activities from iKMS Exco. For those who had missed the iKMS Evening Talk in February, you will be able to read about it in the report.

Finally, in the spirit of knowledge sharing, we want to thank Chang Yi Ching for contributing the book review in this issue. We are keen to hear from you if you have any articles, ideas or suggestions for the iKMS newsletter.

Jacinta Chadwick, Co-editor

KM HUMOUR

GOOD KM ARTICLES

"Wanted -Information Architects"
By Patricia B. Seybold, CEO and Sr. Consultant, Patricia Seybold Group

Much of the KM activity we see in organizations today center around "information findability". How do we make it easier for the people within our organization and outside our organization to find the most relevant, current, accurate infomration they need to carry out the functions they're trying to accomplish? This information findability problem isn’t going to magically go away by slapping Google or any other search engine across our company Intranets. Nor will a search engine really solve your information classification, organization, and refinement problem. The real solution is really information architects and other information professionals who can make sense of the mess of information we’ve created and is now exposed.

KM BOOK REVIEW: "THE TIPPING POINT" BY MALCOLM GLADWELL

Reviewed by Chang Yi Ching

Introduction
In the words of the author, Malcolm Gladwell, this book is “about change. In particular, it’s a book that represents a new way of understanding why change so often happens as quickly and as unexpectedly as it does. … Ideas and behavior and messages and products sometimes behave just like outbreaks of infectious diseases. They are social epidemics. The Tipping Point is an examination of the social epidemics that surround us.”

REPORT: iKMS EVENING TALK ON 23 FEB 2004

Reported by Kan Siew Ning

The talks on the evening of 23 Feb 04 featured two KM practitioners, one sharing on KM in a private sector organization (Dragon Air), and the other on KM in a government statutory board (DSTA); the first from Hong Kong, and the second from Singapore. There was a turn-out of more than 40 members and walk-in visitors who were interested to talk KM with practitioners.

ASKING POWERFUL QUESTIONS

By Kan Siew Ning

How often have we sat in meetings where we prefer to be somewhere else? Instead of generative conversations, discussions at meetings turn dysfunction either because a few strong-willed, opinionated and vocal characters go all out to win arguments and turn well-intended meetings into battlegrounds of advocacy.

ExCo News – April/May 2004

By Patrick Lambe

It has been a busy few months since our last newsletter! We have been busy on a number of fronts, including membership activities, member services and ExCo make-up.