It was great to have Katherine Clark of the KM division of VDOT speak this morning (her slides will be available on the conference site soon).  I just learned that their program was in the top 15 Harvard Business School Innovation Awards out of 1000+.  Awesome.

Tim Young, Founder & CEO of Socialcast

He say he will be talking about “dealing with” Gen Y in the worklplace

Framed in the languaeg of “generational warfare”.  The presentation uses stereotypical images to convey a brash, upstart, push-back, in-your-face attitude for this cohort … people who use Napster, facebook, MySpace, etc,

Shows image graffiti “MySpace is for Losers”

Characterizes Gen Y workers as synthesisers, they can pinpoint, seek and locate the specific expertise they need, and go to that expertise (bypassing all chains of command to do so).  This cohort is now bringing that dynamic into the organization .. or … Organization Structure = (NOT)  Communication Structure.

They are well versed in asynchronous communication … therefore more oriented towards breaking down organizational silos (this may be a logical non sequitur, but I know what he means .. do you ?).

From linear use of email to low-friction, lightweight micro-blogging – “learning to write about yourself in the third-person”.

Low-friction broadcast out, friends and peers consuming asynchronously when and how they wish  … he states that this means “Silos Are Evil” and that the growing presence of these capabilities and dynamics on the part of workers means that the holy grail of organizational effectiveness (breaking down silos of information) is within reach.

.

Celeste Merryman, KM for Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC)

Projects with NASA and other high-end science-y organizations

Piloting Social Networking Inside NASA for Knowledge Sharing

Will share SN Pilot project at NASA

NASA one of the first and last “innovation strategies” created by the US Government

NASA 50 years old on October 1, 2008 – 120+ projects over the years.

Bush – To Mars & Beyond (The Constellation program – my editorial question: where will the Bush Administration get the money ?)

KM “pain points” for NASA

1. Geographically Dispersed (10 centers, 8 states; many other facilities)

2. Aging Workforce (Long-duration projects, average age 47, average tenure 17.9 years)

3. Mission Transition (4 year gap between programns)

She designed NASAsphere (Socializing, Innovating, Inventing) – “sphere” as in shape and circle of peers where one has influence of some sort.  NASAsphere grew from 78 to 295 in 60 days via colleague invites.

Benefits of NASAsphere

Accelerates communication and problem-solving, creates P2P communications capability

Captures for re-use individual knowledge worker know-how .. supports collective intelligence

Creates P2P communications in context, deepening understanding for decision-making

The Radar O’Reilly Effect

“Go Ask Radar” (knows how to get it for you … Radar contacts Sparky … “I need 5,000 roll of toilet paper, so I can get you some steaks”

NASAsphere is better (since, for example, many NASA people have lots of vacations).

“The network of a conversation spreads based on its topic rather than by person-to-person sharing”

How NASA used OSN for Business

Sharing “a day in the life” of a NASA scientist

Asking where to find critical information and data to support NASA tasks

Presenting and vetting odeas to NASA’s collective intelligence

Enhancing the employee directory with interests, facts and conversations

“Yes, NASA overcame the Radar O’Reilly effect”

Overall Pilot Experience

Easy To Use

Easy To Grow

Easy To Manage

Easy To Integrate

Suggestions

Set Epectations For Participants

Give participants a task

Allow them to invite work colleagues

This is somewhat out-of-date … Dave is elaborating on this in the “hot-seat interview” at KMWorld 2008 … but the main points are still pertinent and highly relevant.

One of the more popular posts I have made in the last several years contained an interview with Dave Snowden, in which he looks forward to issues regarding the construction and use of knowledge in an era where social computing tools, services and dynamics are beginning to be adopted for use in knowledge-intensive workplaces.

Additionally, there are two versions of the podcast out there … one of so-so quality and the other much better (thanks to the magic of my friend Brian Moffatt (BMO).

So, for posterity, here is a (good quality) recording of Dave Snowden of Cognitive Edge holding forth on some the important ways social computing is affecting the ways we work with knowledge.

.

.

Dave Snowden – KM and the Impact of Web 2.0