Second-Generation KM and OL LO22327

Mark W. McElroy (mmcelroy@vermontel.com)
Fri, 23 Jul 1999 14:55:43 -0400

In the current issue of Knowledge Management Magazine, Peter Senge is
quoted as having detected " 'a second wave of knowledge management' that
addresses some of the same critical issues SoL members have been
struggling with -- the sustainable creation, transfer and dissipation of
organizational knowledge." Not only is Senge's intuition correct on this
matter, but many of us in the KM community have all but concluded that
first-generation, technology-centric KM is barely on life support.
Moreover, the second-generation brand of KM that Senge alluded to is
becomming well organized and ready for prime time. Not surprisingly, its
target is organizational learning. The imminent convergence of the KM and
OL communities is a virtual certainty. Second-generation KM (SGKM) is
emerging as a contributing implememtation strategy for organizational
learning!

As a KM consultant (IBM Knowledge Management Practice) and Chairman of the
Knowledge Management Consortium's "KM Modeling Standards Committee," I
can personally vouch for the strentgh of the KM industry's movement away
from shallow, technology-oriented information management schemes, in favor
of interventions that stress organizational learning. This shift is
further marked by a sudden interest in knowledge production and innovation
as opposed to the KM field's prior preoccupation with information
codification and transfer. In developing implementation strategies and an
approach for how to accelerate the production of new knowledge and
organizational learning, SGKM is on the verge of making a potentially huge
contribution to the field of OL.

Having just completed a white paper on the subject of SGKM and its
impending influence on organizational learning and innovation, I'd like to
offer a copy of that paper to anyone who might be interested in tracking
this exciting development. Just let me know by e-mail and I'll send you a
copy.

Regards,

Mark W. McElroy
Principal, IBM Knowledge Management Consulting
(802) 436-2250

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"Mark W. McElroy" <mmcelroy@vermontel.com>


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