Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Chris Blodgett
leadership journey towards maximizing <strong>the</strong> organizational and operational effectiveness and efficiency
(MOOEE) for organizations over <strong>the</strong> long-term. This paper will:
demonstrate that knowledge management really is a two-sided coin,
articulate a specific public sector institutional perspective <strong>of</strong> knowledge management, and
present a KM Institutional Effectiveness Framework that embraces both yin-yang KM
perspectives while incorporating <strong>the</strong> multi-disciplinary tenets <strong>of</strong> KM.
1.1 Organizations equal people
Knowledge or justifiable true belief is a deeply human construct that mankind has been struggling to
define for millennia. For <strong>the</strong> purposes <strong>of</strong> this paper, ‘knowledge’ is considered to be what people
‘know’ and ‘information’ is how people ‘explain’ what <strong>the</strong>y know – one person’s knowledge is ano<strong>the</strong>r
person’s information. The term ‘management’ implies a systematic/disciplined approach to a given
discipline. For individuals life is a knowledge management journey where people manage <strong>the</strong>ir own
personal knowledge - but can we truly manage what o<strong>the</strong>r people know? This is <strong>the</strong> organizational
query <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> century.
The most universal example <strong>of</strong> an organization is <strong>the</strong> family unit. Like any 21 st Century organization it
will mature over time; however, as a family unit it will have to interact with o<strong>the</strong>r families and o<strong>the</strong>r
organizations all <strong>of</strong> which will have <strong>the</strong>ir own levels <strong>of</strong> organizational maturity, perspectives,
perceptions and organizational goals. Time marches on, <strong>the</strong> world changes (socially and technically)
and <strong>the</strong> family unit as an organization grows, adapts, matures, evolves and hopefully finds success in
<strong>the</strong> achievement <strong>of</strong> its hopes and dreams… but hope is not a method! If <strong>the</strong> parents (family unit
‘institutional’ leaders) don’t make sense <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world, come up with a plan on how to act effectively in it
and actually guide its implementation, <strong>the</strong> family unit may be doomed to fail despite <strong>the</strong> best
intentions <strong>of</strong> all involved. Without institutional leadership, <strong>the</strong> parents/family leaders will end up
conducting lots <strong>of</strong> family/team meetings and when required seek advice from family subject matter
experts (SMEs) like grandparents who have lived <strong>the</strong> dream (free contractors) and pr<strong>of</strong>essional
<strong>the</strong>rapists who have studied cognitive science/human behaviour (not free contractors): such is <strong>the</strong>
fate <strong>of</strong> many organizations.
The fundamental KM principles are <strong>the</strong> same whe<strong>the</strong>r one is from <strong>the</strong> family, private, public or not-forpr<strong>of</strong>it
sectors. While perspectives vary according to <strong>the</strong> ‘sector’ within which we find ourselves, all
organizations do have <strong>the</strong> same ingredient, people! Traditional organizational <strong>the</strong>ory models
recognize that despite different sector perspectives, organizations still view <strong>the</strong>mselves in terms <strong>of</strong>
people: corporate leaders, business managers and workers. Managers/workers confront issues every
day that cause <strong>the</strong>m to wonder if <strong>the</strong>y are doing things right; ie, how can <strong>the</strong>y work more efficiently
(save resources, time and/or effort) in order to pursue o<strong>the</strong>r life goals. The vast majority <strong>of</strong> us possess
this perspective as we are all <strong>the</strong> centers <strong>of</strong> our own universe.
The forgotten question is, are we doing <strong>the</strong> right things? This is <strong>the</strong> domain <strong>of</strong> institutional leaders
who workers depend upon to ensure that <strong>the</strong>ir efforts are vertically aligned with organizational goals
and horizontally synchronized over time. Institutional leadership ensures that organizational and
operational perspectives are not stove-piped and are seen as two yin-yang halves that make up <strong>the</strong>
whole institution.
1.2 Public Sector KM
The world is ‘seen’ differently by those in <strong>the</strong> public sector. As a public/sworn servant and member <strong>of</strong>
<strong>the</strong> Canadian Department <strong>of</strong> National Defence/Canadian Forces (DND/CF), it is <strong>the</strong> maximizing <strong>of</strong>
organizational and operational effectiveness and efficiency (MOOEE) in support <strong>of</strong> operations that
drives me and not private sector shareholder value. Shareholder value is essentially replaced by
‘mission success’ or ‘stakeholder value’ as defined by <strong>the</strong> citizen, <strong>the</strong> government, <strong>the</strong> defence
department and <strong>the</strong> partners/suppliers/consumers <strong>of</strong> defence related knowledge and information.
1.3 Institutional Leadership
Institutional leadership is different from <strong>the</strong> leadership that we grew up with. “Leadership at <strong>the</strong> tactical
level is primarily about accomplishing missions and tasks through direct influence on o<strong>the</strong>rs – that is,
leading people. Institutional leadership, on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hand, takes place predominantly in higher
headquarters at <strong>the</strong> operational, or <strong>the</strong>atre level and at <strong>the</strong> strategic level… [still] an institutional
1092