IBM has experimented internally with a system for managing
massive virtual events on a global basis, beginning with an all-
employee dialogue named WorldJam and continuing with a forum
for all managers named ManagerJam. These events had multiple
purposes, but at their core was the goal of capturing best practices
that employees could use to drive results throughout this global
corporation. A thorough review of the transcripts from the multi-
day ManagerJam event revealed that although there were few
instances of real-time development of true breakthrough ideas, a
number of relatively straightforward but valuable management
practices were discussed at length. The galvanizing effect of these
dialogues is potentially significant. Hearing testimony from peers
worldwide about why a management practice is important and
receiving reinforcement for one’s suggestions about how to imple-
ment the idea provide a strong motivation to carry through with
actions that a manager already knew were good. One of the impli-
cations is that often when we think about building searchable data-
bases of codified ideas to enable discovery of new practices, we
would do better to orchestrate vivid events (online or offline) to
reinforce practices that are already known but not consistently
applied.
ConclusionThere are tremendous opportunities for corporations to invest in
systematically managing professional problem-solving work:
through automation, guided learning among peers, help in surfac-
ing potential analogies, systems that support work processes, and
events that reinforce effective work practices, as well as through
traditional “knowledge management” systems. As the field that we
have, for now, named knowledge management matures, we hope
that the metaphor of knowledge as a commodity that can be dis-
tilled into component parts and managed is replaced by other more
complex and more accurate ways of thinking. Already we have
36 LEADINGORGANIZATIONALLEARNING