With 15+ years of experience, Naureen Aziz is a strategic leader dedicated to driving data and AI transformations that enable data and AI-centric modernization initiatives, with a strong emphasis on achieving tangible business outcomes and transformational impact for organizations. Her expertise encompasses project management, change management, learning and adoption strategies, strategic communications, and effective stakeholder management. Naureen is also a fervent advocate for inclusion and diversity and a champion of data literacy and culture. She holds a Master’s Degree from Columbia University in Information & Knowledge Strategy and a Certification in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University.

Denise Carter MSc FCLIP is based in Geneva, Switzerland. Her company DCision Consult provides research, competitive intelligence and qualitative analysis to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in Switzerland, France, Germany, and the U.S.

Before setting up her own business 10 years ago, Denise worked for 15 plus years for a small biopharmaceutical company in Geneva, latterly as part of the global business intelligence team.  Prior to that Denise designed and implemented a new global information unit for the company, creating new services and resources. She was awarded a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Award for customer service in 2006. Denise began her career at ICI Chemicals & Polymers in the UK bringing an information service back in-house to support 1000 research chemists.

Denise has published multiple articles on different information topics and presented at international conferences. Denise consults as a Senior Analyst for JInfo for competitive intelligence projects. She is on the Editorial Board for Business Information Review and conducted four of their annual business information surveys. Denise is currently serving on the Board of the Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP). She also serves on CILIP’s Knowledge & Information Management (K&IM) special interest group committee.

When she finished her library degree at Aberystwyth/University of Wales (in the time before the internet), Denise really wanted to be a human “Google” working in the reference department of a public library, but somehow got side-tracked into information management in industry and she has loved every second. But… rooting out that obscure but relevant piece of data for a customer still gives her a buzz.

More on growth mindset

In response to the growth mindset story in last week’s “In the know” article, Dennis Pearce alerts to Episode 8: Growth mindset of The Studies Show. The Studies Show is a podcast from Stuart Ritchie and Tom Chivers that reviews flawed scientific studies, especially ones that lead to public misperceptions.

Stuart Ritchie is also the author of the “How growth mindset shrank” article discussed in the previous RealKM Magazine “In the know” article. His article “Science isn’t storytelling” was also discussed in another “In the know” article, and his article “Nudged off a cliff” was referenced in the RealKM Magazine article Is this finally the end of the road for nudge theory?.

With thanks to Dennis Pearce for letting us know about the growth mindset episode of The Studies Show.

The Center for Implementation

The Center for Implementation (TCI) was founded in 2018 and has been growing rapidly ever since. TCI trains, supports, and empowers individuals and organizations in applying theory and evidence-informed change methods to improve outcomes.

When people have something they want to implement, TCI helps them think about and plan for the “how-to” – things like how to overcome barriers to change, how to assess readiness and context, how to plan for adaptations, and how to sustain or expand their efforts.

With thanks to Dr Bonnie McBain for letting us know about The Center for Implementation.

OpenAlex

OpenAlex is a free index of the world’s research ecosystem. Inspired by the ancient library of Alexandria, OpenAlex catalogs 250 million scholarly works, along with their citations, authors, institutional affiliations, and more. It’s 100% free and open source. This type of data is a valuable resource to institutions, researchers, governments, publishers, funders, and anyone else interested in global research and scholarly communication.

Growth mindset long overhyped

As reported in a previous RealKM Magazine “In the know” article, evidence to support the idea of a “growth mindset” has been found seriously wanting.

In the time since, two systematic review and meta-analysis studies have further reviewed the growth mindset academic literature. One study¹ looked at the academic achievement of students, and found that there is little evidence that adopting a growth mindset rather than a fixed mindset leads to higher achievement. The other study² looked at growth mindset interventions, and concluded that, in certain circumstances, there can be positive effects.

Three commentary articles responding to the two systematic review and meta-analysis studies were then published. These commentaries were followed by a reply³ from the authors of the systematic review and meta-analysis that had looked at the academic achievement of students. They report that two of the commentaries support their original findings, and state that the third, which challenged their findings, is flawed. In conclusion, they restate their original observation, which is that:

Apparent effects of growth mindset interventions on academic achievement may be attributable to inadequate study design, reporting flaws, and bias.

Referencing the systematic review and meta-analysis that had looked at the academic achievement of students, Paul Fairlie, PhD writes in a LinkedIn post that:

I remember reviewing the small number of studies that existed 15 years ago to develop an assessment tool for a consulting firm and found the evidence wanting – certainly not enough to support a best-selling book at the time on growth mindsets. I conducted our own study on a national sample and found no relationship between growth mindsets and adult performance in organizations. Given the limited real estate on the firm’s new assessment tool, I recommended that they drop growth mindsets. A bit risky at the time. Since then, a lot of vendors have gotten rich on growth mindset tools.

Fairlie’s reflection shows how, despite only ever having a questionable evidence base, the notion of growth mindset has been overhyped throughout its existence, including by people who have put personal profit ahead of professional rigor.

As previously stated, this is a serious concern, because approaches based on growth mindset are being used in knowledge management (KM). Anyone who is using growth mindset in their KM work should immediately pause doing so, and then carry out a thorough review and reorientation using the two systematic review and meta-analysis studies and reply article referenced above.

With thanks to Bart Verheijen for letting us know about Paul Fairlie, PhD’s post and the two systematic review and meta-analysis studies and associated commentary,

Father introduces Mother of Modern Management

The contribution to knowledge management (KM) of “Father of Modern Management” Peter Drucker is widely recognised. However, as the RealKM Magazine article What about the role of the “Mother of Modern Management” in KM? alerts, the equally important contribution of “Mother of Modern Management” Mary Parker Follett has been largely ignored. As that article discusses, Mary Parker Follett’s work is important not only in regard to the evolution of KM, but also potentially to its future.

A Twitter comment in response to that article reveals that Peter Drucker actually wrote the introduction to Pauline Graham’s book Mary Parker Follett: Prophet of Management⁴. The following excerpt from the introduction shows that Drucker himself had been unaware of Mary Parker Follett and her important contribution. This begs a question: what other important contributions to KM have been or are being ignored?

With thanks to Bruce McTague for letting us know about Peter Drucker’s introduction in Pauline Graham’s book Mary Parker Follett: Prophet of Management.

References:

narrm ngarrgu library draws on deep knowledge systems

Numerous RealKM Magazine articles have explored the evolving roles and functions of libraries, for example as innovation incubators and as community engagement hubs. Our arts and culture in knowledge management (KM) series has also highlighted how First Nations artworks are vast repositories of knowledge.

The newly opened narrm ngarrgu library and family services¹ in Melbourne Australia brings all of these elements together. narrm ngarrgu (pronounced nahm nar-GUW) means ‘Melbourne Knowledge’, and is located on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country. City of Melbourne has worked closely with Elders, artists and community members to bring this warm, welcoming space to life by drawing on deep knowledge systems.

The City of Melbourne Future Libraries Framework² has three key principles: to honour, celebrate and acknowledge Aboriginal culture, to support a thriving city, and to amplify social access and equity. naarm ngarrgu was carefully designed with these priorities in mind. It includes welcoming, accessible spaces, First Nations artwork, books and collections, children’s library, family services centre, creative makerspace, and sound studios.

With thanks to Christoph Hewett for letting us know about narrm ngarrgu.

The role of language in diversifying knowledge production

Linguistic diversity is an important aspect of the sixth generation of knowledge management for sustainable development (KM4SD)³.

For the past three years, Decolonial Subversions has sought to introduce and implement a multilingual publishing model that has been ambitious and not without its challenges. In a newly published paper⁴, Dr Dr Romina Istratii and Dr Monika Hirmer – drawing from their interactions with diverse contributors around the world – reflect on the practical, contextual, political and epistemological challenges that hinder us from moving to multilingual publishing and shifting away from monolingualism and mono-dimensional or dominant ways of knowing the world.

Is this ever possible? Please read their reflections.

With thanks to Dr Romina Istratii for letting us know about this paper.

Knowable Magazine

For effective evidence-based decision-making, it’s important to be able to readily access research information.

Knowable Magazine is the digital publication from Annual Reviews academic journals, and seeks to make knowledge across a wide range of topics accessible to all. Like RealKM Magazine and The Conversation, Knowable Magazine explores the real-world significance of scholarly work through a journalistic lens. The Annual Reviews journal articles featured in Knowable Magazine are free to all for a limited period, and the republishing of its articles is encouraged.

Topic areas in Knowable Magazine include health and disease, living world, physical world, society, food, environment, technology, and the mind.

With thanks to Stuart French for letting us know about Knowable Magazine.

References:

Dr. Moria Levy is one of the foremost thought leaders driving the knowledge management (KM) discipline forward. In 1998, Dr.  Levy established ROM Knowledgeware, a firm specializing in KM. ROM turned out to be one of the biggest KM firms worldwide, nowadays with 40 employees daily serving KM organizations worldwide. Moria didn’t settle for owning and leading a big KM firm, exceptional in its size in this evolving market. She pushed forward to develop new methodologies addressing intranets, lessons learned, knowledge retention, collaborative knowledge development, and more. These methodologies, based on fieldwork, were later the basis for her research papers and books, having nowadays over 1,000 citations. In 2017 Moria Levy was included in the Journal Impact Factor of Thomson Reuters.

​Dr. Levy led the first worldwide initiative of a KM standard: the Israeli KM standard SII25006. This standard was published In 2012 and was the foundation on which KM in Israel later developed. In 2015 she was chosen by the International Standards Organization (ISO) to lead a global experts team in developing  a KM standard. This resulted in ISO30401 – Knowledge management systems an agreed upon comprehensive compass for knowledge management excellence.

Aaron is the owner of ClockworkWP. He has built sites for companies of all shapes and sizes, ranging from small nonprofits to Fortune 100 companies, since beginning his work with WordPress in 2008. An organizer for WordCamp Atlanta and the Atlanta WordPress Meetup, Aaron provides leadership and speaks regularly at events throughout the WordPress community.

As a seasoned entrepreneur and Certified EOS Implementer, Stas Balanevsky has a unique understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by business owners. With over 30 years of experience across diverse industries, including healthcare, digital marketing and media, sporting goods, and international finance, Stas has developed a well-rounded skillset and a passion for helping others succeed.

Starting his first business at just 13 years old, Stas has nurtured a lifelong love for entrepreneurship and the drive to push others to achieve their goals. In addition to his work as a Certified EOS Implementer, Stas is a highly sought-after speaker, a member of the Western New York Vistage trusted advisor group, an Entrepreneurial Leap Collaborator and serves on the board of the Holimont Ski Club.

When Stas is not working, he can be found on the slopes of said Holimont Ski Resort or on the water, enjoying his passions for skiing and sailing. He is married with two adult children and loves traveling the globe with his family and friends.

Stas brings a unique combination of expertise, passion, and entrepreneurial spirit to his work, making him a valuable asset to any organization seeking to achieve its goals and reach new heights.

David Gurteen is a keynote speaker and conversational facilitator specializing in knowledge management, organizational learning, and conversational leadership. He gives keynote talks, organizes knowledge cafés, and conducts workshops globally.

He is best known for creating the Gurteen Knowledge Café. This conversational process brings people together to learn from each other, share experiences, and make sense of a rapidly changing, complex world.

He also publishes a monthly Knowledge Letter, which has been running for 24 years.

Currently, he is developing a website and writing on an online book (a blook) on Conversational Leadership.

Conversational leadership is an emerging discipline that recognizes the power of conversation and takes a conversational approach to working together effectively in a complex world.  It embraces principles like distributed leadership, skilful conversation, and nurturing community, seeing leadership as a choice and conversation as critical for sensemaking, relationships, decisions, and action.

Joost Visser

There’s an African proverb that says it takes a whole village to raise a child. Likewise, it takes a whole community to build a successful business that can grow and contribute to a healthy economy, people and planet. This is the motto of CONNECTS/TIAO, a specialist in the enabling technology and collaborative capabilities needed for business engagement and collaboration co-founded by Joost in 2016.

Joost started his career in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) where he developed a broad expertise in the areas of sales, marketing, strategy development and general management in executive roles in various countries around the world. Since 2006, Joost has been helping small, medium and large organizations in private, public and non-profit sectors to transform their organizations to become more efficient and effective and more sustainable.

Doug Smith

Doug Smith is the architect of Performance-Driven Change and Cohort Approach to scaling change. He is a former McKinsey & Company partner and author of books ranging from 19th century African history to the birth of the information age to managing change to the classic text about teams to a moral philosophy for the 21st century.

Performance-Driven Change, like Strategic Doing, is grounded in core principles required to address complex problems and collaborations. The tools and methods have been used to drive both performance (real results) and change (new capabilities) across more than sixty different industries and fields – at both the enterprise as well as entire field level.

Ed Morrison

Ed Morrison is co-CEO of Strategic Doing Networks and Senior Research Fellow of The Conference Board. He developed Strategic Doing, a discipline to accelerate collaboration and innovation in open, loosely connected networks. He is co-author of the book, Strategic Doing: Ten Skills for Agile Leadership (Wiley, 2019).

Ed started his career in Washington, DC, where he was legislative assistant to an Ohio congressman, staff attorney in the Office of Policy Planning for the Federal Trade Commission, and a staff member for the Senate Democratic Policy Committee. In that role, he managed floor legislation involving tax, trade, and competitiveness.

He then joined a corporate strategy consulting firm, where he conducted strategy studies for large companies like Ford, Volvo, and General Electric. After this work, Ed consulted with communities and regions on how to tackle the complex challenges of building a prosperous economy in an era of globalization. Frustrated with existing approaches to these issues, more than 25 years ago he began working on Strategic Doing. Over 2,000 practitioners have taken the basic course, and the discipline, which can be taught in multiple languages, is spreading globally.

Ed began his academic career in 2003 as director of the Center for Regional Economic Issues at Case Western Reserve University. In 2005, he moved to Purdue University, where he was a member of the professional staff at the Purdue Center for Regional Development. In 2016, he founded the Agile Strategy Lab at Purdue. In 2020, he founded the Agile Strategy Lab at the University of North Alabama. He received his B.A. degree cum laude with Honors from Yale University and both his J.D and M.B.A. degrees from the University of Virginia. He completed his Ph.D. in economics at the University of the Sunshine Coast (Australia). His dissertation details his journey to develop and deploy Strategic Doing.