Lessons Learned From Knowledge
Management and Knowledge Sharing:
The Role of Storytelling
www.stevedenning.com
A funny thing happened on the great road
to knowledge management…
We started out thinking
it was about …
Knowledge
Good!
…solid
…objective
…direct
…abstract
…analytic
We found out
it was about…
Storytelling
Bad!
…nebulous
…subjective
…indirect
…unscientific
…insubstantial
We had to unlearn what we know!
Storytelling is
briefly
mentioned
Story is “the most
important way”
big new ideas come in
“Working Knowledge”
presents a reasoned
logical case why
sharing knowledge
makes sense…
Storytelling is
briefly
mentioned
John Kotter:
If you want
people to
change, you
give them a
reason
“Working Knowledge”
presents a reasoned
logical case why
sharing knowledge
makes sense…
But…
Storytelling is
briefly
mentioned
Few companies actually
got round to doing it in a
major way
John Kotter:
If you want
people to
change, you
give them a
reason
When you look at
all the cases of
major new ideas
being brought into
it’s
always a
story
companies,
that does it.
Harvard Business
Review
June 2003
“Storytelling that
moves people”
"Forget about
PowerPoint and
statistics. To involve
people at the deepest
level, you need stories”
Why are we talking about
storytelling?
Is this
serious?
Fairy
stories?
This is an age of
20th century
Organization
Dramatically changing shifting
environment
20th century Organization
Bureaucracy isn’t agile enough!
The biggest issue facing CEOs today:
Change is irresistible…
but the organization is immovable
We’re
gonna do
what?
Mattel
Lucent
Campbell
soup
Coca-cola
37 months
36 months
33 months
28 months
on the job
Jill Barad
Covad
28 months
on the job
Ribert Knowling
on the job
Richard McGinn
Procter &
Gamble
17 months
on the job
Dirk Jager
on the job
on the job
Dale Morriison
Douglas Ivester
Maytag
Xerox
15 months
13 months
on the job
Lloyd Ward
on the job
Richard Thoman
Change is irresistible…
But the organization is immovable
But how?
Explain it to them?
Comply or fire??
Fire them anyway?
How do you persuade an organization to change?
There is another way…
At the Workshop
Creativity
Innovation
Empowerment
Collaboration
Openness
…but back at work
Problems
Downsizing
Shortfalls
Competition
Distrust
Four years later
In February
1996
By
February
2000…
1996
2000
Top Management support
No
Yes
KM in mission statement
No
Yes
KM in Bank strategy
No
Yes
Organization for KM
No
Yes
Budget for KM
Yes
No
Incentives for KM
No
Yes
Communities for KM
5
114
Measurement of KM
No
Yes
Benchmarked as KM leader
No
Yes
Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises
June 11, 2001
1. General Electric
2. Hewlett-Packard
3. Buckman Laboratories
4. World Bank
5. Microsoft
6. BP
7. Siemens
8. Skandia
9. McKinsey & Company
10. Cisco Systems
Teleos in association with The KNOW Network
http://www.knowledgebusiness.com
The World Bank
і international organization
і Its mission: to reduce poverty
і lending of $15-30 billion a year
і profits of around $1 billion a year
і lending has been the main thrust
і Notoriously change resistant
February 1996
“Go and look into
information”
12 3 8 9 `
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12 3 8 9 1`2 3 89
12 3 89 `
123
12 3 89 `
89`
456 7
456 7
12 3 89 `
7
6
45
12 3 8 9 `
12 3 89 `
12 3 89 `
456 7
February
“Go
and look into information”
1996
Why
don’t
We’re
a bank,
we share
remember?
our knowledge?
How does one person persuade many?
Persuasion method
Charts with boxes
and arrows
Efficacy
Chart
Nonaka: The Knowledge
Creating Organization
Tacit
Tacit
Tacit
Socialization
Externalization Explicit
Tacit
Internalization
Combination
Explicit
Explicit
Explicit
A manager
contemplate
s the
knowledge
spiral
How does one person persuade many?
Persuasion method
Charts (boxes, arrows)
Rational argument
Efficacy
Zero
What is knowledge management?
Knowledge Management caters to the
critical issues of organizational
adaptation, survival and competence in
face of increasingly discontinuous
change.
www.brint.com
In June 1995, a health
worker in Kamana, Zambia
logged on to the CDC website in Atlanta and got the
answer to a question on
how to treat malaria
June 1995, not June 2015
A small remote town, not the capital
Zambia, not a middle income country
CDC, not the World Bank
Announcement at the Annual Meeting 1996
We need to invest in the necessary
systems, in Washington and
worldwide, that will enhance our
ability to gather development
information and experience, and
share it with our clients…
President Wolfensohn
October 1, 1996
How does one person persuade many?
Persuasion method
Efficacy
Charts (boxes, arrows)
Zero
Rational argument
Zero
Dialogue
Impractical
Storytelling
High
It was September 1998…
The financial world was in a
shambles…
- The Asian miracle had crumbled
- Japan was mired in endless recession.
- Russia had come unstuck in mid-August
- Brazil was teetering on the brink.
- Europe was struggling with the Euro.
- The dollar and the Stock Exchange were
gyrating wildly.
It was September 1998…
Define
I was asked
knowledge
to make a
management
presentation
or die!!!
August 20, 1998
Pakistan Government seeks
urgent advice on premature
pavement failure and wants
to try
a different technology
In the past
the Bank would not have
been able to provide
valuable input by the
tight deadline
Now
Bank staff in field
office contacts the
Road Network for
urgent help
In-house response;
task manager in
Jordan gives
promising experience
in Jordan
Same day
Argentina field office
Overview of
experience in Asia,
Australia and Africa,
Same day
External response;
CEO, South African
national roads agency
cites significant
experience
with the technology
Client gets the
global experience,
just enough,
just in time,
Just for you
Knowledge
base
South
Africa,
Jordan
other
experience
The experience will
be edited for re-use
and entered
into the knowledge base
KMS
Jordan,
South
Africa, other
experience
In future
The client will be able
to get this material
from the Web
While technology is a facilitator
Sharing depends on
community
Transport
Thematic
group
Argentina
Field
office
Task
manager
Jordan
Field office,
Pakistan
Head,
SA Highway
Authority
September 1998
The springboard story
This is the
Let me kind of
That’s
tell you
remarkable
organization
about
how quickly
we
are
going
Pakistan
Imagine we
if could
to behad
we could
respond
this kind of
capability to
deal with our
problems…
Stories can….
…. Entertain
…. Convey information
…. Preserve cultures
…. Build relationships and communities
…. Change organizations
The springboard story
How a story works..
The springboard story
Let me
tell you
about pakistan
How storytelling works
Listeners get inside the idea
“I simply believe that some
- live
idea
part
of the human
self…is
The objective observer becomes
not
subject
to the laws of
- feel
the idea
a voyeur, a critic
time and space”
- the idea becomes theirs
Listening to
a story
Carl
Jungmakes us
a participant
The springboard story
What is being “explained”…
The problem of communication:
Knowledge management is a complex idea
Perhaps sixteen dimensions
- knowledge strategy
- knowledge leadership
- communities of practice
- help desks
- knowledge bases
- knowledge capture
- knowledge storage
- knowledge authentication
- knowledge dissemination
- knowledge taxonomies
- quality assurance
- authentication procedures
- budget
- incentives
- measurement etc
The springboard story
Let me
explain the
16 dimensions
of KM
- knowledge strategy
- knowledge leadership
- communities of practice
- help desks
- knowledge bases
- knowledge capture
- knowledge storage
- knowledge authentication
- knowledge dissemination
- knowledge taxonomies
- quality assurance
- authentication procedures
- budget
- incentives
- measurement etc
Yikes
!
Listening to
explanations
is tiring
Let me
show you a
chart
Knowledge management is ..
Creation of “cutting
edge” knowledge
Knowledge management
system
Oh my
god!
Staff
learning on
the job
Knowledge organizers
and architects
Identification
of knowledge
gaps
Knowledge
Knowledge
managers
and staff base
in networks
Staff
research
and analysis
Staff
search for
knowledge
from
outside
sources
Applying
knowledge
Help desks
Bank
staff
Clients
Partners
Information technology
The Bank’s Economic
Development Institute
On-line communities
Knowledge management is a complex idea
Multiple dimensions
Phase
space
Two
dimensions
is ok
Three
dimensions
is ok
Sixteen
dimensions
is a
problem
The springboard story
Listening to a story is
exhilarating, refreshing
Let me
tell you
about Zambia
Something
interesting,
I hope?
The springboard story
29 words
16 Dimensions
In June 1995, a health
worker in Kamana, Zambia
logged on to the CDC website in Atlanta and got the
answer to a question on
how to treat malaria
How could it
possibly work?
The springboard story
Conventional view
I am talking
to you:
My head is full
of information
Object:
Download
stuff in my
brain to your
empty heads
You are
listening to
me:
your heads
are empty.
The springboard story
Conventional view
Communicators
don’t have all
the answers!
Even if they
did, listeners
can’t absorb
huge amounts
The springboard story
Suggested view
Understanding!
Understanding!
Tiny “fuse”
I.e. the
story
Tiny “fuse”
ignites
I.e. the
the
story
tacit
knowledge
Huge amount of
Understanding!
tacit
understanding
The springboard story
There are two
Let me
tell you
The
about
Listener
Pakistan
Just think of
the emails
building up in
listeners…
my office!
The Little
voice in
the head
that I see
Conventional view: ignore it!
Suggested approach: Spark it!
The springboard story
How do you stimulate
the little voice in the head?
You tell a story in a way that
elicits a second story…
(You give the little
voice something to do…)
The springboard story
What if we
tried this
in health?
Let me
tell you
about what
happened in
Pakistan
Maybe
this could
work in
finance?
Could this
help us in
Africa?
The springboard story
We would need
budgets ….
We would need
to get people
involved …. Why
Of course, we
would need
to get organized
Imagine if I had
a community
like that….
don’t
we do it?
Everybody
loves their
own creation!
The springboard story
What are the limitations?
The springboard story
It was the Summer of 1998…
If one story is good,
many must be better.
The springboard story
25 stories!
The Written word
Disconnect between speaker and spoken
Written Word
Who is saying this???
Spoken
Word
Living word to
living reception
If this is so
l
l
e
w
Why would anyone
g
n
i
l
l
read my book? Still se
…
s
r
a
e
y
3
after
Why would anyone
go to my website?
www.stevedenning.com
s
t
i
h
n
o
i
l
l
2 mi
…
r
a
e
y
r
e
p
I'm an enthusiastic advocate of the
world wide web.
The traffic on my website is one reason
why organizational storytelling is
making progress around the world.
It’s very easy find stuff!
But these are people are who
already
interested in the subject
I'm an enthusiastic advocate of
e-mail.:
15 years ago, I knew about 15 people.
Now I know about 1500 people.
It’s very easy to reach people!
But these are people are who
already
on the same wavelength
If you need to find information,
the web works ok up to a point
If you need to contact a colleague,
email works ok up to a point
If it’s anything that’s
….innovative
Do
… bold
it in
… disruptive
... Disturbing
person!
… important
How much of the message is carried by
Content?
NonContent*?
This doesn’t
work
electronically
*tone of voice,
look, gesture,
body language
If you have a radcal new idea…
If you have a skeptical audience…
do it in person!
It's already hard enough in person.
Electronically,
I suspect it’s not possible.
at least not with
the technology available today.
Books work in
different ways
oral storytelling
Different medium..
Different skills…
Slower impact…
Maybe longer lasting…
The springboard story
Do all stories work this way?
Which stories have the springboard effect?
Limitation #1: Crafting the story right
To have the springboard effect, the story should be:
- understandable to the audience
- told from the perspective of a single protagonist:
- be prototypical of the organization’s business.
- have a degree of strangeness or incongruity
- plausible.
- embody the change idea as fully as possible
- should be recent, and at least in part true
November 19, 2000
THE RIGHT THING
Storytelling Only Works if Tales Are True
By JEFFREY L. SEGLIN
…. “One of my rules is: Never
Robert Metcalfe
3Com Corporation
lie…”
What is a true story?
Not just a story without inaccuracy….
e.g. 700 happy passengers
reach new york after the
titanic’s maiden voyage!
Corporate world
Would you like to
give me your frank,
honest and possibly
career-ending opinions?
World of politics
“If Bush Is Lying,
He's Not the First”
June 15, 2003
Welcome to the
credibility gap!
“Sooner or later,
every modern
administration
has fallen into
this unwelcome
gulch”
Which stories have the springboard effect?
Limitation #1: Crafting the story right
To have the springboard effect, the story should be:
- understandable to the audience
- told from the perspective of a single protagonist:
- be prototypical of the organization’s business.
- have a degree of strangeness or incongruity
- eerily familiar.
- embody the change idea as fully as possible
- should be recent, and at least in part true
- should be told as simply as possible.
Which stories have the springboard effect?
Limitation #1: Crafting the story right
To have the springboard effect, the story should be:
- understandable to the audience
- told from the perspective of a single protagonist:
- be prototypical of the organization’s business.
- have a degree of strangeness or incongruity
- eerily familiar.
- embody the change idea as fully as possible
- should be recent, and at least in part true
- should be told as simply as possible.
- must have a happy ending
The findings of neuroscience
Human brain
Cortex
The findings of neuroscience
Human brain
Cortex
Mammal Brain
Limbic system
The findings of neuroscience
Human brain
Cortex
Mammal Brain
Limbic system
Reptile Brain
Not smart
but quick
Story with an unhappy ending
Human brain
Cortex
Fight or
flight!
Mammal Brain
Limbic system
Reaction
is faster
than
consciou
s
thought!
Reptile Brain
Story with a happy ending
Human brain
Cortex
“Warm floaty
feeling”
Endogenous
opiate reward
Mammal Brain
Reptile Brain
What are the limitations?
Limitation #2: Letting go of control
Storytelling ignites the
listeners’ creativity
We do not win or lose
We do not impose our views
on the listener
The springboard story
Limitation #3: It doesn’t work: the incorrigibles
People locked into control modes
- Traditional middle
management
- Accountants
- Old-style Soviets
The springboard story
Limitation #4:
It has to be performed with passion
The storyteller must believe
- Conviction rubs off
- Listeners fill in the gaps
The springboard story
Limitation #5:
Marry Narrative with analysis
The story is not the panacea
- The story takes the listener
inside the idea
- Analysis is needed on costs
and benefits
Who can be a springboard storyteller?
Who can be a springboard storyteller?
We make
sense of
the world
through
stories
Dogs sniff
each other
u
Human beings
tell stories
We can all learn to do it better!
- Read
the Springboard
- use the website
www.stevedenning.com
- Practice, practice
and more practice
We can all learn to do it better!
Tailor-made workshops
Firms train groups of staff
on how use storytelling for
key challenges
Bristol Myers
Unilever
US Army
GE
State Dept
IBM
Details at www.stevedenning.com
Four freebies
• Free advance chapters of The Seven
highest value forms of storytelling
• Join the WorkingStories
Listserv (400 members)
3. Slides from today
4. Transcript on Storytelling weekend in
Washington DC in April 11-13, 2003
To get all four, give me your business card,
write “chapters” on it
Implications of storytelling
What does
storytelling
add up to?
Persuasion is 28% of GNP
Law
Public relations
Psychology
Marketing
Management etc
What do these actually people do?
They persuade other people
n
o
i
l
l
i
r
t
1
Deirdre McCloskey,
$
S
U
+ Review (1995) Vol. 85, No. 2.
American Economic
Around 14% of GNP is storytelling
So why do we think this?
Five years ago, we all knew that
Knowledge is
…solid
…objective
…direct
…abstract
…analytic
Good!
Storytelling is
…nebulous
…subjective
…indirect
…unscientific
…insubstantial
Bad!
The real voyage of discovery
consists not in seeking new
landscapes, but in having new
eyes.
Marcel Proust