Organizational Development for Knowledge Management at Water ...

xxx | Organizational Development for Knowledge Management at Water Utilities
the plan, selecting the team and thinking system. Preparing addresses setting objectives, connecting
the dots, building the foundation, growing a knowledge network and becoming a change
agent. Executing addresses leading and managing, the four organizational processes (creativity,
problem-solving, decision-making and implementation), knowledge capture, knowledge harvesting,
and knowledge mobilization. Sustaining addresses nurturing organizational health, embedding,
sharing, evaluating and measuring, and learning.
While the virtual toolkit is a stand-alone product, it also includes down-loadable resource
documents to support second-order learning. These include 55 Tools, 15 areas of Ideas and extensive
resource documents covering the breadth of Knowledge Management contributed by leaders
in the field. There are also 33 project studies (drawn from drinking water utilities), 22 case
examples (representing government, non-profit and for-profit organizations internationally), and
5 case studies.
These resources can serve as rich guides to a drinking water utility’s KM journey. Because
each utility is different and has its own unique situation and context to achieve success, it is
essential that leaders understand their organization, its goals and direction, its strengths and weaknesses
and its structure and culture. With this understanding they can then select specific areas
for change and identify knowledge management initiatives that can facilitate improvements. Or,
they may decide to implement a Knowledge Management strategy to transform their utility into
a knowledge-centric organization that utilizes information, knowledge, and collaboration to the
maximum extent. Ultimately, it is informed, intelligent thinking, caring and mission-aligned individuals
making the best decisions that will take your utility into the future. This approach is the
first step toward building the utility of the future.
©2011 Water Research Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.