Knowledge Management that would appeal to Librarians

found this little gem on another BLOG called "Geek and Poke" and simply could not resist adding it to my commentary.

For all those I have worked with in the KM sphere who are current or former librarians - let this be a lesson to you - what goes around comes around!

Worth thinking about

From Management Issues

Failing to discuss five key issues before embarking on a new business initiative, project or programme almost guarantees that it will end in failure.

What are the five undiscussable issues that do so much damage?

1. The first and most fundamental is fact-free planning – that all-too familiar scenario that sees a project set up to fail with deadlines or resource limits that are set with no consideration for reality.
2. Second, is absent without leave (AWOL) sponsors who fail to provide the leadership, political clout, time or energy to see a project through to completion.
   
3. Then there is skirting, when people work around the priority-setting process and are not held accountable for doing so.
4. Another common issue is the "project chicken" scenario, when team leaders and members don't admit when there are problems with a project but wait for someone else to speak up.
5. Finally, team members perpetuate dysfunction when they are unwilling or unable to support the project, and team leaders are reluctant to discuss their failures with them candidly.

Article worth reading

"Empowering leadership not always the answer."

"Empowering leaders who give their employees room to think and behave independently are often perceived as more effective than the traditional directive leader who issues specific orders. But according to U.S. researchers, this isn't necessarily so.

In certain types of environments - including fast-moving entrepreneurial businesses – command-style leadership can be more effective, argue Dr. Keith M. Hmieleski and Dr. Michael D. Ensley."

"Directive leaders – those who instruct people to carry out designated tasks and reprimand those who stray - are seen as old-fashioned and possibly downright stifling."

Most striking among the findings is that the empowering style of leadership, commonly thought to be most effective with heterogeneous teams in environments of rapid change, was clearly shown to be less effective under those very conditions.

"Fast-moving environments demand fast decisions," said Dr Hmieleski. "That's where directive leadership comes in. A directive leader can rapidly clarify what work needs to be done in the moment and by whom."

As a result, Hmieleski argues that the benefits of directive leadership and the drawbacks of empowering leadership have been downplayed."

So bring back the boss who can tell you what to do instead of the wimp who tells you he has NO IDEA and wants you to flounder around on your own so he has someone to blame when things go wrong!

Get the last laugh - be prepared!

"Seven out of 10 workers aged more than 45 in the U.S and UK are worried about not having enough money to fund their retirement, a new survey has suggested. The study by Hartford Financial Services Group found one in three older workers in the U.S and UK was either "extremely" or "very" concerned." (from Management.Issues)

I seem to remember that when I first started work in my so called 'permanent position' I noted that I was actually receiving fewer dollars in salary than I had been making on commission doing the work of a sales representative. Soon after I met people who were getting older and who had not taken care to save for their old age who were continually getting about seeking aid from anyone who would care to listen and help to support them.

Somewhere between the two experiences I got to the point where I realised that doing the work I had trained for and spent years at university becoming qualified to do, did NOT mean I was going to be well off.

I don't know what the rest of you do when confronted by such a stark realisation. In my case I wanted to make sure that I would not end up like the poor guys who had been left on their own to pay the bills with less and less money coming in. I also wanted to make sure that even if one or another form of insurance for the future did not pay off there would be some residual reserves in place to take their place.

In short, I started to plan for my retirement at the very beginning of my career.

I suspect that for nine out of ten people this would be considered to be the most foolish waste of time and money that they could think of. After all most people need their funds when they are young and still able to DO things with it. Let time worry about the future.

Perhaps that is something that is there to challenge each and every generation. In my case, now that I am retired, I know that I am grateful for my foresight so many years ago.

Medical bills for example which could break the heart (and hip pocket nerves) of most people are being taken care of (mostly) by medical insurance. For all those who do NOT have such insurance and complain when they cannot get a service or have to wait for what public services exist - my only advice is plan for the future and not just for the present, when you are healthy.

Illness can come without warning and by then it is far too late to have 20/20 vision

I suspect that most people will read this note and laugh and point it out to their friends with a comment about this aging idiot who spent his time worrying about the future.

Wait thirty years people and THEN see who has the last laugh!

An Invasion Not Found in the History Books

I was sent a piece of information I had not seen before concerning some archival documentation arising from WW II.

The story concerns plans for an invasion of Japan stored in the American Archives since they were made.

Apparently this information has been around since 1987.

I wonder how many others out there have heard of this and or read the resume?

I was fascinated to think about what COULD have happened had the two atomic bombs NOT been used on Japan at the end of the war.

What if the invasion planned by the military of the time had gone ahead?

It all makes fascinating reading and people can read an exerpt for themselves at:

http://www.waszak.com/japanww2.htm

On the same site at a slightly different location there are more fascinating bits of reading that can be found:

try for example:

http://www.waszak.com/giangreco_bibliography.htm

Salt and Water

What an interesting place is The Forum

In one of the latest posts there is some interesting discussion about water.

We have been seeing more and more water entering our seas from the melting of the polar ice caps. At the same time we have been noticing the lack of water that has been falling from the skies and filling up our dams and our reservoirs and hence we seem to have a problem. Being on an island we are surrounded by water that contains salt while we restrict our use of fresh water and complain that as our aquifers dry up we have an increase in salt.

Well let's just think about this. Saline water is purified in lots of countries going from saline to drinking water. So why not here?

Yes I hear you all saying but it takes a heap of electricity to enable the change and then what the hell do you do with the salt that is left?

One commentator on the forum has provided an interesting response to this quandry:

The concentrated brines that can be a by-product of desalination of seawater or saline groundwater have a value all their own.

One such value resides in their usefulness as a component of solar ponds. Solar ponds are amongst the most cost-effective solar heat collection and storage devices. A layer of dense highly saline water is insulated by a layer of less dense fresh water separated by a membrane. Solar radiation is trapped within the saline layer, which heats up.

This heat is used to generate electricity in a conventional closed-cycle thermal power plant using a low poiling point working fluid. (A facility like this supplies electricity for Birdsville in SW Queensland; the only difference being that the source of the heat is hot artesian water, water heated by the natural nuclear fission occurring in subterranean granite masses.)

Relative scarcity of dependable fresh water supply for even domestic purposes is frequently a feature of life in Australia. I can only wonder that this convergence of availability of resource and demand for both product (fresh water) and by-product (in the ultimate, electricity) both in near coastal and remote inland locations is not recognised as an ideal opportunity for the application and development of natural (or, to use the buzz-word, sustainable) energy sources.

Not only is the brine by-product useful in its own right, it is easy to handle and transport. It can be piped to a usage point, it can be piped back out to sea, or it can be piped and re-injected into an already saline aquifer. Given, with respect to seawater particularly, the absolutely miniscule quantities of water removed as fresh water in relation to the source, the return of relatively more concentrated salt water to the sea need not be an environmental impact problem: it is so inherently controllable on both the small scale and the large that I can only marvel at the seemingly uninformed objections being thrown up against desalination on this ground. Is there some other agenda or community perception at work producing such negativity?

What about that analysis? I am not well enough versed in either chemistry or power generation to offer a comment about the feasibility of what is being suggested - however I would like to hear from people who know a lot more than I do what they think.

In the so called 'sunburnt country' this sound almost too good to be true - is it?

From knowledge management to knowledge acquisition

This photo of Kate Muir, appeared in the October 2006 edition of the "Public Sector Informant".

Kate is stated as being a student at the University of Canberra's Master of Business Informatics course. The photo is published in what is referred to as an "Advertising Feature" on Training and Development Solutions in a section entitled "Growing Demand for Business Analysts"

Kate is quoted as saying: "I believed that the Masters of Business Informatics would give me . . . the academic background to areas I had worked in."

For those of us who knew Kate when she was "just a manager," it is delightful to read that she has put herself back in the traces to obtain yet another degree and this time, a post graduate qualification.

Onya Kate!

The article in context comes at a time when Sandra Rossi stated on 06/09/2006 10:34:38 in an article entitled "Accreditation introduced for business analysts" published on Computerworld.com.au that:

"The growing industry trend toward accreditation has reached the business analyst community which is introducing its own formal certification process.

The Australian Business Analyst Association (ABAA) today announced the introduction of a baseline accreditation for business analysts."

Of course the competency based movement has had competency standards for business analysis for some time. Readers interested in these standards should look at: http://www.ntis.gov.au/ for information

The upside of Global Warming

There is an upside to climate change.

As sea levels rise so those people who were unable to obtain the funds for a seaside resort home and were forced to buy a cheaper property away from the current sea shore are on a winner - if only they can stick around long enough.

Soon their properties will be seaside resort properties while those who were foolish enough to buy coastal land will suffer the fate of Atlanteans - they will be underwater.

Of course there is an alternative that is already the rage in the Netherlands - build houses that are on floats and moor them to sturdy posts that are driven into the soil. As the tide (or water level) rises so too does your house.

A recent article in the Guardian discusses the situation facing Britain at present:

"Britain's coastline has remained more or less intact since the end of the last ice age. But as sea levels rise, erosion is accelerating and more than a million homes are now under threat. Is the only solution for us to abandon the shore?"

In my view do not abandon the shore - make plans for a new type of property the floating home.

You think I am joking? I am NOT try these URLs to see what I mean:

http://www.ecoboot.nl/artikelen/floating_houses.php

Liberals just following British Labour?

All this fuss in Australia about migrants, refugees and citizenship. Oh what short memories we all seem to have.

We already know that the British Prime Minister and John Howard are allies in the "coalition of the willing" and we know that in spite of their supposedly very different outlooks politically they seem to be able to agree about everything.

Sometimes Australia is ahead of the UK and sometimes it is behind.

On this occasion it would be good to remember that in 2004 the following article was published in the Guardian:

Sarah Left Wednesday December 15, 2004 The Guardian
"The Home Office today published a 145-page handbook intended to familiarise prospective citizens with British culture, history, traditions and government, which will serve as the core text for new citizenship tests. . . . . "We want to encourage people who are settling here to acquire a basic knowledge of English and of British society. This is fundamental if we are to help them contribute fully to our national way of life," a Home Office spokesman said.

Now of course we have Mr Robb, that famous adherent for the promotion of Liberal values, who is trying to convince us about the need for similar items for people living in Australia.

Remember where you read this first - I expect that very soon there will be a similar issue of publications perhaps even multi media formatted set of options that will enable Australia to go in the same direction as the UK went two years ago.

Oh and by the way did I mention that since 2004 there have been lots of disgruntled migrants in the UK? Some of whom have been naughty enough to actually bomb railway stations and in other ways express their frustration with what is happening over there.

While I support people in Australia learning English I think we need to learn how to help people integrate a little more usefully than seems to have been the case in the UK
.

You have to be kidding!

From the BBC

Mau Mau to sue British government

Mau Mau war veterans claim they were tortured

Victims of Kenya's independence war with Britain 50 years ago are to start proceedings to claim compensation from the British government.

Veterans of the Mau Mau - who fought a guerrilla war with their colonial masters - are demanding an apology and an out-of-court financial settlement."

Pete's Points:

Keep your eyes on this story!

For those old enough to recall this story about Jomo Kenyata the leader of the Mau Mau who finally became the country's first leader, there was a lot of horrific murder to go round.

The Mau Mau were not called "guerrillas" or "freedom fighters" when all of this took place. They were appropriately called terrorists and terror is what they spread throughout Kenya.

People died horrific deaths on all sides and there was no quarter given by either side. For the relatives of these terrorists to come fifty years later and ask for compensation is, at least in my view, simply unbelievable.

Who do the families of their victims sue?

I suspect that if this situation gets to court and is heard then there will be relatives of the terrorists who bombed the World Trade Centre who will be seeking compensation for the loss of their 'loved ones' who were no doubt forced to martyr themselves in their "struggle".

Soon there will be relatives of the people who hijacked jet airliners and killed the passengers, caused millions of dollars damage and put fear into international travel who will claim compensation for mental anguish or some other bullshit!

I am really afraid that I have no time for claims like this.

These people were not victims - they were perpetrators!

New hand dryer to reduce cross contamination?

Washroom air, contains harmful fecal germs and is laden with bacteria, is heated and blown onto people's shoes, clothes and freshly-washed hands by normal air dryers that currently operate. What's more they take a long time (over 35 seconds) to work, so people generally try and help the process along by wringing their hands and so adding more germs to the mix from their skin and from under their finger nails.

Paper towels are the only other option offered in washrooms. They are of course expensive and environmentally unfriendly. In the US, for example, 2% of total landfill consists of paper towels.

So who should come to the rescue (again) but James Dyson, the design guru who pioneered the bagless vacuum cleaner - that boon to the office cleaners and of course house wives and house husbands.

His new invention, currently being trialed in two hospitals in England manages the job of drying hands in ten seconds.

The new hand dryer, developed in Wiltshire, will be built in Nanjin at a relatively hi-tech factory that currently makes radar for the Chinese military.

I guess the only question that remains is whether the Chinese will actually develop a form of radar that can determine whether there are any germs left on people's hands after the drying process - just to be sure!

Who will they blame for THIS contract?

My readers should note the PRICE tag (nearly 6 billion Australian dollars for this contract and a staggering total of around 36 BILLION Aussie Dollars) for this innovative outsourcing project and then should ask the following question:

"Did anyone put a penalty clause into the contract?"

Jamie Doward, home affairs editor
Sunday October 1, 2006
The Observer

The company charged with rescuing the NHS's troubled IT system has consistently failed to meet its deadlines for introducing the project across the health service, The Observer can reveal.

Last week Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) was awarded a £2bn contract to take on a bigger role in overseeing the implementation of the Connecting for Health system, the biggest civilian computer project in history which is supposed to electronically link all doctors' surgeries and hospitals. But government hopes that CSC will prove the £12.4bn project's salvation have been hit by news that the company has itself experienced huge problems in implementing even the most basic parts of the project.

Another

It seems to be the day for them.

Once again from Management-Issues.com this little gem indicates a suicidal tendency by employers. If we have a worker shortage and firms do NOT want to take the business off shore and there are in fact qualified, trained and experienced workers available who just happen to be older, then why does this attitude persist?

I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that the new bosses are petrified that the older workers could actually run the shop better than they currently can?

Maybe that is why senior executives are looking for such high pay packets - they know something we don't?

Perhaps it is that they will retire on their ill gotten gains before the world catches up with them and the devastation they will leave behind or ??

"Almost half of workers across Europe believe their workplaces discriminate against older workers, a new survey has suggested.

As Britain gears up for arrival of age anti-discrimination laws this weekend, the poll by recruitment firm Monster found that Spanish and German workers most felt older workers were discriminated against, but Norwegians were the most tolerant towards older workers.

The survey of asked 8,277 European workers "do you feel your company is ageist when it comes to employing new recruits?"

A total of 46 per cent across Europe believed their employers discriminated against older workers when it came to hiring new recruits, although nearly a quarter felt their organisation took a balanced approach."

Is this a "Crocodile Dundee" joke?

I want everyone to note that usually when Management-Issues.com speaks I am happy to listen. However on this occasion even though it is NOT April 1st I do worry about the fact that the organisation which undertook the research is called "Hogan Assessment Systems"

Of course I suppose not everyone who has seen Crocodile Dundee knows that Paul Hogan is the real person that personified this Australian larrikin.

From Management-issues.com the following

"As if to confirm popular stereotypes, a new study comparing Australian CEOs with their counterparts in the U.S. has found that the Americans are more conservative and buttoned down, while the Australians are more fun-loving and risk-taking.

The findings are based on results of three personality assessments administered by U.S.-based Hogan Assessment Systems (HAS) to 55 Australian CEOs running organisations with annual revenues ranging from $2 million to $450 million and employing between 10 and 8,500 employees. Almost a quarter of these were women."

I was amazed and perversely delighted by the following excerpt from The Guardian web site.

As you read the story below please note that the camps are held at Devil's Lake. How appropriate is THAT?

If course you can make up your own mind by checking out this site:
http://kidsinministry.com/

"A documentary on evangelical Christian children's camps has caused uproar in the US

Dan Glaister in Los Angeles
Friday September 29, 2006

Burning with a cause ... American children at the Kids on Fire Pentecostal summer camp pray before chanting for 'righteous judges' in the documentary film Jesus Camp, which has created a furore in the US. Photograph: Magnolia Pictures

The children at the Kids on Fire summer camp are intent as they pray over a cardboard cutout of President George Bush. They raise their hands in the air and sway, eyes closed, as they join the chant for "righteous judges". Tears stream down their faces as they are told that they are "phonies" and "hypocrites" and must wash their hands in bottled water to drive out the devil.

The documentary film Jesus Camp follows three children at the Kids on Fire Pentecostal summer camp in the small city of Devil's Lake, North Dakota.

Assimilation, Integration, Multiculturalism or ???

There has been a lot of talk recently about Australian Values and whether these should (at least in part) form the criteria for citizenship.

When we read about the issues that confront our societies these days, we most often have one in particular that seems to leap out of the pages of the news media at us namely the conflicts that are arising between the population of the host country and people who migrate to that country as migrants and as refugees.

What is happening with migrants and refugees anyway?

In the past migrants were people who for one reason or another were dissatisfied with the country in which they were born and sought to move to a different country where they hoped their lives would be better. Refugees were people who could no longer live in the country in which they were born and simply HAD to go to another country to stay alive and safe.

In BOTH these instances the people who moved understood that part of the "price" they had to pay for leaving their country of origin was that they would have to adjust and accommodate to what they found there to be able to obtain what it was that they wanted.

So it was in Australia.

Flemming Rose, the cultural editor of the Jyllands-Poste states:

"We live in a state where there are basic democratic and constitutional values. And then you have immigrants with other value systems.

How far do you go in accommodating these newcomers?

What is a deal-breaker?

The question of integration and assimilation is the number one issue facing Europe over the next decade."

This small excerpt asks the question about the future within Europe - I wonder if Australia is any different?

This excerpt is that it uses two words "integration" and "assimilation".

In Australia prior to the Whitlam government Australia had "assimilation" as its cultural credo.

During this administration, and largely thanks to the then Immigration Minister (the late Al Grassby), the country moved towards "integration" and eventually towards what is currently in vogue, namely "multiculturalism".

I know that as someone who was born overseas and has managed to be part of the reality of all of these fads in dealing with people like myself, I have my own views and prejudices.

It would be nice to see how others feel about this topic.

Maybe by having an open discussion we could identify exisiting fears, prejudices and desires and so make this country a really democratic and free country to live in where no one has to cower in a corner in fear.

Anyone care to comment?

The Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing BUT the Truth?

It is constantly amazing to see so many variants of the truth in the media and on the web here are a few excerpts:

From the BBC

Pakistan's intelligence agency was behind the train blasts in Mumbai in July that killed 186 people, Indian police say.

The attacks were planned by the ISI and carried out by the Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba, based in Pakistan, Mumbai's police chief said.

Then of course there is this - also from the BBC

Pakistan's president has warned the West would be "brought to its knees" without his country's co-operation in the so-called war on terror.

"If we were not with you, you won't manage anything," said President Pervez Musharraf in a BBC Radio 4 interview.

Also from the BBC

Al-Qaeda's number two has called US President George W Bush a "liar" who is losing his war against the network.

In a video published on the Internet, Ayman al-Zawahiri called Mr Bush a "lying failure" and said al-Qaeda was stronger than ever.

Also from the BBC

Veteran US journalist Bob Woodward says he was stunned to be told by the Vice-President Dick Cheney that the veteran former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, -who served Presidents Nixon and Ford during the Vietnam war - was also serving President Bush.

"He's back. In fact Henry Kissinger is almost like a member of the family. If he is in town he can call up and if the President's free he will see him," Mr Woodward said.

He added that Mr Kissinger's message was that victory was the only meaningful exit strategy.

"So fascinating. Kissinger's fighting the Vietnam war again," Mr Woodward added.

Also from the BBC

The Iraqi government has declared an immediate curfew in the capital, Baghdad, to run until Sunday morning.

The move affects both vehicles and pedestrians, a spokesman for the Iraqi prime minister said.

A senior Iraqi military spokesman said the curfew had been introduced due to specific intelligence about a series of planned car bomb attacks in Baghdad.

Also from the BBC

A letter from 1988 in which Iran's top commander says Iran could need a nuclear bomb to win the war against Iraq has come to light in Tehran.

The commander is quoted in the letter, written by the father of the Iranian revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini, to top officials in the final days of the war.

It has only now been made public - by former President Hashemi Rafsanjani.

The letter seems at odds with Tehran's statements that Iran is not seeking a bomb because it is against Islam.

Who are we to believe and what are we to believe? That is the question.

I don't know about anyone else - but I am naive enough to WANT to believe that when I read the news I am not reading propaganda or bullshit!

Judging from these news clips it is highly debatable whether what I am reading is anything other than propaganda or bullshit!