KM Tidbits

In case you’re interested, here are some excerpts from my presentation at the APQC KM conference last year. Susan has very kindly created an article out of some of the thoughts that were exchanged during my presentation. Please note that you need to be a member of APQC.org for you to be able to read the article.

PS: Peter has combined his own thoughts and Wally's key questions on understanding organizational culture with my work and put up a cumulative post on his blog.

Imaginary Friendships Could Boost Child Development

Imaginary Friendships Could Boost Child Development!

Obviously, this one reminds me of Calvin's intelligence. Another reason why this article arouses my interest is that it talks about such children retaining knowledge as well! Now, that - according to me - could be because these children are likely to express themselves uninhibitedly to their imaginary companions and also share things with the latter and even perhaps 'teach' them! :D

Cool! If you're a young parent, I think it may be time for you to think about looking for a great soft toy that your child can 'breathe' some life into...! ;)

The Sunrise and other stories...

A week that could be aptly called "fighting for fitness"...! :(
Things are slipping (ouch, that touched a raw nerve...oh....that makes it two puns in all. Twisted ankles, you see) back to normalcy. As I attempt to get myself back in working condition on multiple counts, I must say I got to see an amazing sunrise this morning. Beautiful grey and orange sky touching a quiet and sparkling sea (probably a KM away though- got to clarify that KM is kilo meter and not the KM KM, given my association with the other KM. Confusing....) Wait, I am in Chennai. Bangalore hasn't decided to meet the sea face-face without telling you. :) The sun rose in all its glory....fiery orange ball between some tall trees....in about 3-4 minutes and a few crows - far enough for me to see just their shapes - flew past it. Cool. How lovely it would be if I could wake up to such a sunrise everyday!

What an irony!

Hilarious and ironical, this! I still can’t believe it happened this way!

This morning, I came across a quote that I liked. It was about Happiness being the result of two things/factors. Thought it was cool and made a mental note of it. Come afternoon, I had a conversation with a friend about this and that and suddenly recalled the fact that I’d come across this quote on Happiness and got ready to share it with her. I started off only to stop almost as quickly as I started – because all I was able to recall was….

Happiness is the result of ---------- and a weak memory.

Would you believe it? I told her I forgot what the quote claimed the other cause to be and she said, “You have a weak memory!” and the irony of the situation dawned upon us and struck us both real hard that very second! The whole place reverberated with our laughter even as I struggled to stop laughing and actually think about what was happening and the rest of the quote itself. Life never ceases to amuse and amaze!

Well, if you’re dying to know what the other factor is, I managed to come out of the situation and recall the complete quote with a little bit of help from Google (verbatim version). ;)

Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory. :) (It may have been equally amusing or maybe even more so had I initially recalled the good health part but forgotten the weak memory part! :D)

The Bird Song (Don't think of Swans)

As I waited for my office transport to arrive at my stop, I indulged in the moment - listened to a few birds share their views on I don’t know what but nevertheless found myself nodding appreciatively, clouds move lethargically, and trees sway with the breeze indecisively. And then, the inevitable happened. The transport arrived. I reluctantly abandoned the stop I was rooted to till then and marched into the vehicle and planted myself on my regular seat and switched on the iPOD to listen to a peppy number. And, hey, presto! I ‘saw’ a connection happen in my mind. There flashed across my mind’s eye a thought that it would be superb if a team of birds with eclectic voices and tones got together and sang out the number I was listening to, sans the lyrics….(just the tune). Wow. That’s an orchestra I would pay a ransom for. Sigh! Has to remain a dream, eh?! Unless…one uses the computer to ‘make’ such a song! Nothing like a live performance but, well, something is better than nothing when it comes to such a dream. Can one of the animation movie experts adopt this idea, please? :)

IT Doesn't Matter....!? (My apologies to Nicholas Carr)

Caveat Emptor: I don't take responsibility for what happens to you after you've read this poem....unless it is something good ;)

IT or it?

you run away from it

you hide it, you fight it

you deny it, you ignore it

you chase it away (have you, really?)

and believe it has no longer a say

you even laugh it off, half-heartedly though

you just don't want to handle it, you know!

and then comes the day of reckoning

which you've been doing anything but beckoning

it looks you straight in the face

in the most inescapable of ways

and you know that's that

no time to fume or fret

it's all over and done

so, you face it like a woman

and then you know, it's you...not it

it was always (meant to be) there, you weren't the one that fit

so you take it, even embrace it

it's not that bad when you accept, of life, every bit

life is, of course, lit with lights but also the gaps between

that's the way things are, will be and have always been!

by Nirmala alias Nimmy :)

Free Will....???!!!!

Too much to digest? Perhaps.... :)

"The purest doctrines, such as those of Ramana Maharshi, Padma Sambhava, Huang Po and Shen Hui, just teach that it is sufficient by analysis to comprehend that there is no entity which could have effective volition, that an apparent act of volition when in accord with the inevitable can only be a vain gesture and, when in discord, the fluttering of a caged bird against the bars of his cage. When he knows that, then at last he has peace and is glad. Non-volitional living is glad living. 'All Else is Bondage; Non-Volitional Living' - Wei Wu Wei...

Any which way!!!!!!

When in college, one of my friends had put up a poem on her shelf which I came across for the first time ever and was highly impressed. It had an enormous impact on me at that time because I was in a phase where I was consciously trying to become more mature & understanding after having got into trouble for some childish behaviour. Childish here basically means something to do with expecting favours and beliefs to be returned (silly indeed!). I think the poem helped me not just re-look at my lack of maturity but also go on to understand the significance of values. It left a lasting impression on me but I did not have it bookmarked. A few days ago, I came across the same poem in a colleague’s cubicle and it brought back nostalgic memories. I promptly decided to fish it out and bookmark it on my blog. Thanks to Google, it was a 5-minute job.

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centred;

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, People may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight.

Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

Source: http://ucdsm.org/sermons/2005-5-1-safford.htm

Whew!

A friend sent me a link to a list of almost all the web 2.0 software that could possibly exist at this point in time.

I am ready to bet that by the time you’ve been through the entire list and understood what each of them are capable of (just at the surface level) the list would’ve grown longer! It would be interesting to analyze which of these really make it big (or have made it big) and WHY! I certainly believe that celebrity blogging and word-of-mouth are two key reasons why some web 2.0 applications are a part of everyday life. Any stories and insights that you’d like to share? :)

Paradox - Tagline

Late realization....but, Adidas seems to have used paradoxical thinking for its tagline.

Nothing is impossible is the way we all know it....
Adidas says "Impossible is nothing!"

What? :-)

Body-Mind-Soul

Here’s a picture to communicate my view of KM initiatives through a metaphorical and analogical perspective. What do you think?

Body, mind and soul in the world of KM equals technology, processes, and culture/people respectively. The content is the blood....that keeps the system functioning. What? :)

Unanswered Questions

Some of you may have realized that something’s different about this blog for the past two odd weeks. My blogging per se and its intensity/frequency has taken a minor hit. It isn’t anything painful or severe. It’s just a natural consequence of sudden environmental changes. Things haven’t really been ‘just the same’. The world around me has been shifting, moving, disappearing, chaotic et al. Even watching the world go about its gymnastics can be dizzying at times. The ground underneath is intact. So is the sky above. But the scenery has been changing. Almost drastically. It almost gives me the shivers and makes me wonder whether I have not been changing with the times though I know it is not really the case. Battles are being waged in my mind. I don’t know between who/what and who/what. I don’t know how many entities there are in the battle. Heck, I am not even sure exactly why the battle is being fought. I don’t know which anonymous entity to support or cheer for. Come to think of it, had I known which one to support, there may have been no need for a battle at all. Either one entity wins hands down and silences all else or everybody perishes and there’s complete silence. One of the two.

Hey, I know I am speaking in riddles. But then, I myself am gaping at riddles rather than a clear picture/solution to the riddles. Am I perhaps staring at what is the start of a radical movement in my own mind? The power equations have changed (No, I am not talking about politics in the country). But the situation has taught me to cut through stress like a knife through vulnerable butter. It is possible to be sane and come out a winner amidst chaos. But there is bound to be an inevitable dent in the routine which is why there haven’t been any blog posts of the regular kind. Some samples of the changing environment - A friend has quit her job to pursue peace and knowledge for a while, another has quit to discover something worthwhile in a preferred field, and a third is moving on to a new domain and so forth. I see people around me taking small/large risks and it certainly makes me think to say the least. The world of risks is a world where inspiration and uncertainty play the role of partners. But the spark of inspiration has a slight edge over the thrill of uncertainty. I am fascinated and intrigued and want to continue to explore the new world that seems to be flashing across my mind’s eye, well-aided by the literal appearance and disappearance of real-life entities……The situation reminds me of a write-up someone sent me a few weeks ago – perhaps an extract from a self-help book?

Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day.

Mad about Money?

Benjamin Franklin -"He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money."

Eh?

"Competition is a painful thing, but it produces great results." – Jerry Flint

Duh! So, why resort to something painful when we have collaboration - which can produce similar or even better results if handled in the right manner - at our disposal?

Enlightening Conversations

Conversation between yours truly and an intelligent girl kid all of 3.5 years old (gk):

gk to me: I'll teach you how to make peanut butter (her favourite). take a peanut.....no...make a grinder, then....take a peanut, put it in the grinder, plug it in, charge it, it grinds the peanut automatically. now, apply it on the bread

me: make a grinder??? :)

gk to me: umm, ok, buy a grinder

gk's mom: hey, gk, we don't have to buy a grinder...we are all likely to have a grinder

gk to me: ok, if you have a grinder, take a peanut and......(repeats whole process)

me: (new line of thought) only one peanut?

gk: ok, take two peanuts

me: (going back to old line of thought because of lack of ideas) hey, what if i have to buy a grinder? how do i buy it?

gk: make some money and buy it

me: how do i make money? what is the best way to make money? (intelligent question, eh?)

gk: umm....well....uh....ok, get a piggy bank. best way to make money

me along with everyone else in the room were rolling on the floor and dangerously close to destroying some fragile items.

I'm back....

The hiatus lasted longer than I expected it to. I've been away from blogging for almost two weeks. Was travelling and had too many things to do. Anyways, I am back to routine life now and should be posting things as regularly as I've generally been. I should be picking up my pen and letting the thoughts flow (see previous post-quote) :)

Let me start off with a paradox. Sometimes, when you're forced into a situation that is far from well-planned, nature does its planning for you and makes the trip, surprisingly, one of the smoothest. I had to scoot to a place 15000 odd miles away from home all of a sudden and was expecting the world to turn upside down but nature chipped in and made the trip a manageable one! So, I am in a good mood overall. :). For a change, I want to hear from you folks about what's the latest - haven't yet caught up with my blog feeds as well.

Writing to know what you know

"There are a thousand thoughts lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up a pen to write" - William Makepeace Thackeray