Building the enterprise of the future: If not now, when ?

Building the high-trust enterprise (Apr. 2017) and The future of law enforcement (Mar. 2017): Consider how public trust has broken down, especially in large, pervasive institutions such as government, media, and even law enforcement. Guiding principle: When it comes to trust, less is more (meaning more transparency).

Politics at the speed of thought (Apr. 2013): Perhaps the greatest tensions we witnessed were centered on politics, and social amplification of technology (Dec. 2018 and July 2019) was on full display. A confused and sometimes angry public, attempting to determine if a sound bite or 280-character tweet was real or fake, began to turn toward alternative sources for information, interpretation, and recommendations. Advanced KM sub-discipline: applied semiotics, the study of signs, memes, and distortions in the social media and political discourse.

The curious case of a broken crumb trail (Mar. 2013) and Unclogging the knowledge pipeline (Oct. 2010): As we said back in 2013, “When trying to decide the which, be sure to document the why.” We still have too many broken knowledge trails. We need to do a better job of answering the question: “Where the heck did all of this come from?”

The future of money (Dec. 2016) and All aboard the blockchain express (Mar. 2015): In a matter of only a few months, trillions of dollars were created out of thin air, weakening an already overly indebted global financial system. A review of U.S. Federal Reserve economic data shows very little of the so-called stimulus money has actually made its way into the consumer economy. We just can’t restart an $86 trillion global economy with the flick of a switch, which is why we need to rediscover the underlying principles governing how we create, exchange, and grow value.

Workforce/workplace of the future (May 2016, May 2010, Jan. 2010): It’s been a long time coming, but now that organizations have suddenly been thrust into telework, including telemedicine, many will be asking the question: “If we managed to work remotely during the crisis, do we really need to return to our cubicles and daily commute?” See also: The rise of the pop-up city (May 2015) and Putting the smarts into smart cities (Feb. 2012).

The opportunity for a new beginning

There will be another crisis. It could be a repeat of a previous crisis, or a completely new surprise. Yet the opportunity exists right now for our global KM community to come together in new and extraordinary ways.

The disruption caused by the coronavirus forced people to change, whether they liked it or not. Our challenge is not only to guide people through the changes, but to use our full arsenal of tools and techniques to help them become better prepared, and to co-create something far better than what we had before.