Closing message

A few weeks ago we all embarked on an exciting trip through Knowledge Management territory. The mission crew at IRC had thoroughly prepared all the materials one needs when going on an expedition: a common theme, an expected destination point – mount KM, a roadmap by week to travel from camp to camp, background materials and – last but not least – travel friends. Support crews in Nepal, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe helped us by hosting workshops during which more remote audiences were able to provide their input.

4 wheel drives

Fully excited we started out the first week and we got an astonishing number of contributions from an overwhelmingly broad group of people. It felt like we were driving Mr Zuberi’s 4 wheel drive Pajeros at high speed. I saw all kinds of different landscapes rushing by in the side windows of the car. At the end of week one we had a really good feeling about the progress we had made and it seemed like we all enjoyed it, reading all the interesting conversations.

Steep climb

Week two brought us into more difficult terrain. The pace slowed down a bit and some team members had to abandon the expedition. Those who continued the trip shared some really nice experiences and that helped us to compensate for the loss we felt with respect to some of our travel friends. Week three and four brought us into even more rough terrain. We had to abandon our comfortable 4 wheel drives and continued on foot. The active group became smaller, intimacy grew and the stories became more personal. It felt like we sat around the camp fire telling each other stories.

View from the peak

We have climbed a knowledge management mountain. We stood on its peak and we had a magnificent view. Now it is time to return to base camp and share what we have learned.

Here are some of my views.

1. Knowledge management initiatives usually generate a lot of excitement and many people want to jump the bandwagon. However, we should keep in mind that, as the terrain gets tougher, people may have difficulty keeping up with the pace. You can slow down to see if you can help them to catch up. When circumstances do not permit this, accept your loss, move on and return as soon as you can.
2. Sometimes those that you least expect this from might be your biggest champions and those that you had set your highest hopes on might disappoint you. Know your team. Nurture your champions and the scouts that dare to go beyond, and do not let them go out of sight.
3. A common starting position and a common set of equipment help, because you can move forward as a team quickly, without constantly having to explain and teach each other. However, a diverse starting position and a different set of equipment may equally help, because different insights, tools and experiences can solve problems that a homogeneous group might not. Team composition has a great influence on speed and survival.

Next climb

During the first evaluation by the organising team at IRC, we concluded that knowledge management still appears to mean many different things to many different people. If we want knowledge management to make a significant contribution and impact, we need to establish more common grounds. IRC sees this as one of its core tasks and we started a debate on what we all can do to clarify the topic and raise the awareness. In due course, we will surely get back to you and we hope that we may count on your participation, contribution and motivating involvement once more. In the mean time, if you have any suggestions, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Thank you

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your participation and I am looking forward to our next encounter. In a few days, we will send around an evaluation form. We kindly ask you to fill this out and help us improve the process.

In line with the more philosophical contribution from Bangladesh where knowledge management was compared to a black – grey – white box, I want to leave you with the following thought when you get involved with this fascinating topic:
A great view from the peak is very rewarding, but once you are back at base camp, you cannot wait to climb the next mountain. Even if you have to endure all sorts of difficulties along the way, the biggest enjoyment comes from the trip, especially when you take the time to look around you regularly. Do not focus yourself too much on a single outcome or a predestined solution. Instead, be prepared to learn and change while you go along and most of all, enjoy the process.

Viktor A.R. Markowski MBA
Head - Information and Communication
IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre
P.O. Box 2869, 2601 CW Delft, The Netherlands