The Power of Knowledge
Institute of Consulting & BCS, 15 January 2015
Rose Atkinson
Deputy Head,
Knowledge & Information Management
Cabinet Office
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Objectives
To explain how Knowledge Management adds value to
consultancy and empowers the client
To introduce you to some tools you can use to do this
What is Knowledge ?
What is Knowledge ?
Information is a collection of
facts – it is explicit, definable,
recordable
Knowledge is created and exists
in the human mind, after insight or
learning is applied to information
What is Knowledge Management
(KM) ?
•  Finding, creating, using, sharing, transferring, keeping and
reusing knowledge.
•  Getting the right knowledge to the right person at the right
time, to enable them to do their job effectively.
KM is about working together…
• 
Connection
• 
Collection
• 
Communication
• 
Conversation
• 
Collaboration
• 
Corporation
• 
Cohesion
• 
Community
• 
Commitment
Everyone has something to learn,
everyone has something to share
Everyone has something to learn,
everyone has something to share
•  What knowledge do you have ?
•  Where is it ?
•  Who else holds it ?
•  What happens to it ?
•  Is it shared / accessible to others ?
THE
CONSULTANCY
CYCLE
Knowledge - The missing link ?
The linear approach
Consultancy projects often fail to leave adequate knowledge to the
business
Just one failure in a linear process will devalue the end result
The whole picture ?
Knowledge – joining the dots
Result
•  Provides
ROI
Data
Action
Information
•  Adds
value
•  Adds
meaning
Knowledge
•  Adds context
The DNA approach
Learning before...
Learning during...
Learning after...
Learning before, during, after…
Where is the knowledge ?
Who has it ?
What do they know ?
Learning
after
Learning
before
Learning
during
Learning before
What has been done before ?
What were the results ? What did the organisation learn ? What can
you learn from them ?
Save time, money, effort, by learning from others’ experience to
find better solutions, more quickly
Learning during
Develop understanding of the challenges and solutions
How do things happen ? Where do processes complement / support
each other ? How is knowledge and information transferred ?
Identify the tangible and intangible knowledge assets - What are
they ? Where are they ? How do/can they add value ?
Learning after
Knowledge toolkit
Learning before, during, after
KM tools & techniques
Learning
before
Rapid evidence review
(RER)
ü
Peer assist
ü
River diagram
ü
Learning
during
ü
Learning
after
ü
ü
Gone well / not gone well
ü
Relationship mapping
ü
After action review (AAR)
ü
Retrospective review
ü
Knowledge exchange
ü
ü
Knowledge Cafe
ü
ü
ü
The whole picture ?
The whole picture ?
More knowledge resources
“Learning to Fly” http://www.chriscollison.com/l2f/
“No More Consultants” http://www.nomoreconsultants.org
http://www.gurteen.com
http://www.knoco.com
http://www.knowledge-management-tools.net
http://www.henley.ac.uk/kmforum/
Objectives
To explain how Knowledge Management adds value to
consultancy and empowers the client
To introduce you to some tools you can use to do this
Any questions ?
Knowledge & Development
• 
• 
• 
Consultancy
Interventions
Training
Rose Atkinson
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/roseatkinson1
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