Competition Vs Collaboration

Which gives more? Competition or Collaboration? The receivers - not just the individuals involved in the competition or collaboration but also the surrounding society/community. What makes the world a better place to live in? Is it competition or collaboration? People talk of competitive spirits spurring performance and innovation. Has it been compared with the kind of innovation and performance that is driven by collaboration? Competition can also drive destruction/destructive forces. Collaboration does not. An anchor in a programme on Discovery Channel about Modern Machines had this to say while closing the episode, "It is not competition between Boeing and Airbus that will give the world the best of modern machines, it is collaboration between them that will". In other words, anything done out of love will bear sweeter fruits than that done because one wants to beat another. The best of performances are because the performer loves what she is doing and not because she wants to get the better of others in the 'cast'. Competition is short-lived. Collaboration can be forever. Competition causes unnatural deaths. Collaboration brings alive. What would happen if the mother and the father of a family compete to serve the family members? Funny! Ha Ha Ha! :)

Leadership and KM

I caught myself wondering about the link between Leadership and KM. Not exactly the whole of KM but in relation to Knowledge Sharing. Leaders are those that get excited and enthusiastic about a great idea that they have or imbibed from an external source...and have the power to get others equally excited about the same thing! And not just get them excited but also get them to act upon it and reap the rewards/see the results. Any debates here? Well, so what? When does a leader get to influence others to get excited about something that they themselves haven't come up with...that they don't own? Of course, personality, charisma, track-record, fear factor etc cannot be ignored. But the real ownership comes when the leader is able to influence and inspire the masses. Influencing and inspiration happen only when you can tell the masses the why and how of things. Not necessarily the all of the how, but all of the why and a significant portion of the how. If you've guessed my next question, find out if you've got 10/10. It is "What is Knowledge Sharing? Isn't it the Why and How more than anything else?". To go a step further, you don't have to feed someone with fish. Just teach them how to fish, give them the tools and set the environment, pay them for it and you have your organization. Hmmm

Defining KM!

Passionate that I am about KM, it just dawned upon me that I should be looking at defining it my own way. There is no standard globally accepted definition and there are as many flavours of the KM definition as there are number of interpretations of it. Some folks pin it down to culture, some to processes, some to tools and technology while some call it GOD of All Things. Hmmm, where do I start? I'll start off with what I think are the keywords that should appear in a 'good' KM definition... Maybe my next blog will tie up all the keywords (and probably leave out some) and give the reader a definition. :)

- People
- Collective Thinking
- Learning
- Processes
- Knowledge
- Technology/Tools
- Innovation
- Efficiency
- Reuse
- Collaboration
- Knowledge Capture, Classification, Categorization, Storage, Retreival, Access, Dissemination, Application, Value-Addition, Updation
- Customer
- Business Objectives
- Smart Workers
- Leverage
- Strategy
- Concept/Discipline
- Explicit/Tacit Knowledge


Whew! Okay! Now, it will take me another day to get back to this and frame a nice definition out of it for KM! Till then, hold on! ;)

Tough nut to crack...

There is a school of thought that believes that relationship management is a core contributor to one's success. Esp in an organizational environment. But what about the role of perception? You might be a great person in terms of attitude towards others, but a few circumstances might dictate to how you are perceived by others. Also, what is relationship management? One can't be rude and curt all the time and never ever think about others. That means one has to be 'nice'! But if one is a little too 'nice' all the time, others tend to take advantage...don't they? Seems like blowing hot and cold is the only option...! :-) That reminds me of a calvin and hobbes strip that got me smiling for quite some time! -
Calvin : I am at peace with the world, I'm completely serene. I've discovered my purpose in life. I know why I was put here and why everything exists.
Hobbes: Oh, really?
Calvin: Yes, I am here so everybody can do what I want.
Hobbes: It's nice to have that cleared up.
Calvin: Once everyone accepts it, they'll be serene too!

Enjoy! :)))

Man's Search for Meaning...

Reading the book 'Man's Search for Meaning' by Viktor Frankl. Just crossed 80 pages...maybe 50% more to go...! Makes interesting reading...for those of you into human behaviour and life. The man sure had a zest for life what with being in a concentration camp and coming out 'victorious' with this kind of a book...
Await a better capsule on the book once I am done with it! But here's something great that he starts off with - Happiness and Success can't be pursued...They happen to you if you just do what you're doing well enough and love it enough! :) Boy, do I agree!!!

Live and Let Live!

One of my 'friend's' recent behaviour got me thinking about something... Why is it that people find it so difficult to simply live and let live? Why is it most of us are always trying to get the best for ourselves and don't mind crushing down others in the process? Is living well but without treading into anyone else's area so very difficult? Won't the world be a much better place to live in if everyone were to have the philosophy of Living and Letting Live? Don't know if I sound like a philosopher...but just can't help it! Is it KM that makes me think so much about human behaviour? Very likely!