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What startups can teach KM about implicit knowledge sharing
1. Startups & KM:
What they can learn from us
and what we can learn from them
Andrew Gent
January 2018
Copyright 2018 by Andrew Gent
2. 2
Disclaimer
⢠The following presentation is based
on personal experience.
⢠It does not attempt to be scientific,
objective, or representative.
⢠It does tell a story and aims to see
what can be learned by observing
knowledge management âin the
wildâ as a volatile early stage
startup grows into a sustainable
business.
3. 3
Agenda
⢠Understand the role of KM in
startups
⢠See what they do well and donât do
well
⢠Determine where in a companyâs
evolution KM becomes a âthingâ.
4. 4
Our story begins...
⢠I joined a startup eight years ago as
the ninth employee.
⢠I was hired as a technical writer and
information architect, not as a
knowledge manager.
5. 5
The environment
⢠Small agile startup
⢠Inside larger, older startup.
â Startup A: 9 people
â Startup B: ~60 people, 5 year head start
StartupA
StartupB
6. 6
First discovery
⢠Half of Startup B did not know what
the other half was doing.
⢠But I did.
⢠How could that be?
StartupA
StartupB
7. 7
Questions
⢠At what point in the lifecycle does a
company need to think about KM?
⢠Where do knowledge âgapsâ come
from?
⢠How do you (or can you) avoid
them?
8. 8
No answers
⢠Not a scientifically significant sample (1)
⢠Not complete (8 years, 9 40-50 people)
⢠Observing small companies is easier than
evaluating large, complex corporations.
⢠They teach you surprising things.
But...
9. 9
Stage 1: Startup
⢠Few people (1-15)
⢠Everyone involved in everything
⢠Knowledge sharing is everywhere
13. 13
Implicit KM: Pros
⢠Low resistance
⢠Trial & error
â Willing to try anything
â See a problem, solve it
â Simple is best. Donât boil the ocean
⢠Willing to change horses midstream
â 2 email servers, 3 messaging apps (Aim,
HipChat, Slack), 3 code libs, 3 forum
solutions, 4-5 web CMSâŚ
â (Last one is exception to the rule: expensive)
14. 14
Implicit KM: Cons
⢠Impediments:
â Division of labor
⢠Logical/physical separation of organization
⢠Different goals, expectations, needs, language
⢠Different definition of knowledge, artifacts, formats
â Physical separation
⢠Geography
⢠Offices
⢠Floors
⢠Walls
â Good news
⢠(Iâll get back to this)
15. 15
Implicit KM: Surprises
⢠Geography is not a major
impediment. Floors & walls are.
⢠Like agile development, simple &
focused is best.
⢠Go with what works.
â Donât be afraid to change
â Accept multiple technologies
⢠Exception: marketing website
(but that is a separate story)
16. 16
Observations
⢠On the Positive Side:
â Proactive communication
⢠Monthly/Quarterly company meetings
⢠Personal intros
⢠Clubs, activities
â Fast decision making
⢠Focus on one problem at a time
⢠Multiple competing technologies are OK
⢠Design-as-you-go
⢠Change directions quickly
17. 17
Observations
⢠On the Negative Side:
â Loss of history
⢠Employee turnover
⢠Changes in strategy
⢠No one remembers why X happened
â Stale data
⢠Abandoned processes, abandoned data
â Good news is a bad thing (for KM)
⢠Plan: Communicate from each organization
⢠Result: Urge to give a good impression
⢠Outcome: loss of ârealâ info
18. 18
2018, 0%
2017, 15%
2016, 14%
2015, 17%
2014, 12%
2013, 14%
early, 27%
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
early
Example: Wiki
⢠Old Data:
â Approx. 1400 entries
â 70% more than 2 years old
â 27% more than 5 years old
19. 19
2018, 4%
2017, 28%
2016, 4%
2015, 4%
2014, 4%
2013, 4%
early, 52%
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
early
Example: Wiki
⢠Top-level:
â 25 topics
â 64% more than 2 years old
â 52% more than 5 years old
20. 20
Example: Wiki
⢠Old Data: Orphan or Archive?
â 2015 Holiday schedule
⢠Admin/marketing now uses DropBox
â Example apps
⢠Links to old, deleted, repository
â Draft blog posts
⢠Pointers no one maintains
â Design & Planning
⢠History of what was built, how and why
â Infrastructure
⢠Current state and how to setup & maintain systems,
accounts, etc.
21. 21
Example: Wiki
⢠New Data
â Whatâs New InâŚ
⢠Current development plans
â Retrospectives
⢠Record of work done
â New Developer Intro
⢠Instructions for new employees
⢠Why?
â Tied to existing process:
⢠Planning and Review meeting output
⢠Each new employee updates the intro
23. 23
Conclusions
⢠Watch out for small changes
with big impact
â Organization structure
â Seating chart
â Kitchens, etc
â Floors and walls
24. 24
Suggestions
⢠Donât say âKMâ
â Yet another organization
â Separates knowledge from work processes,
ownership
⢠Proactive leadership
â Not just sponsorship
â For small orgs, leadership is key
25. 25
Suggestions
⢠Catalog of knowledge
â Each org lists its information âsourcesâ
â Example:
Engineering Wiki, github
Admin, Marketing DropBox
Sales SalesForce (restricted)
26. 26
What Next?
⢠Still havenât answered the question:
when does KM become a âthingâ?
â 100 employees? 200?
â When CoPs break organizational boundaries?
⢠How to break the job/role barrier?
â Division of labor is necessary, but also divides
knowledge and communication
â To bridge that gap, must tackle differing
perspectives, terminology, goals, locations, etcâŚ
â There may be a simple solution. (Seating?)