Learning to Fly: Practical Lessons from one of the World's Leading Knowledge Companies

Knowledge is power. In corporate terms knowledge means efficiency, productivity and ultimately profit, but too often it is not exploited to the full. Learning to Fly shows how organisations can take the knowledge within a company and turn it to a new advantage. It has been built from the real-world experiences of authors Chris Collison and Geoff Parcell during their time working for BP.

The book is divided into three parts:

• First the concept of knowledge management is introduced--if you've not come across it before, this section explains the principles.
  
• Part two describes how various techniques can be applied in order to share knowledge. The theory is fleshed out with real-world examples.
  
• Finally, part three takes a look at how knowledge management can be embedded within an organisation's everyday work rather than be simply applied as if an afterthought.

The goal is to achieve a situation in which sharing knowledge is an everyday practice that does not need specialists to manage it. To this end, "Action Zones" encourage the reader to think about their own situation and ideas, and practical suggestions are offered. Learning to Fly puts the theory in place in order to explain how to use it in real-life working environments


Bookinfo
(Capstone) Text featuring lessons on keeping up with the pace of change in business today, showing how to put theory into practice in knowledge management. Offers a key to sharing the expertise of others, to using and adapting previously used ideas to create successful innovations. Also shows how to find out which ideas would be best to adapt. Softcover.

The first generation of knowledge management has come and gone. The second generation, which promises both deeper insights and greater impact, will be less about data and more about the social nature of knowledge, less about 'capture and retrieval' and more about innovating and sharing, and ultimately more about know-how rather than know about - the only knowledge that ultimately matters in any pragmatic institution. BP's dramatic ascent as an industry leader stems in no small part from its commitment to learning and knowledge.

From the Inside Flap

Deliver more, and do it with fewer resources.

Isn't that the productivity challenge that everyone in business is facing today? A key way to achieve this is by sharing know-how - by using and adapting what someone else has already learned. Many people know instinctively they should be doing this, but struggle to know how to get started.

Today, no one is, nor can be, an expert in everything. In every challenge, it is easy to feel that you don9t know enough to keep up with the accelerating pace of change inside our organisations, let alone the world outside. Start with the assumption that somebody somewhere has already done what you are trying to do. How can you find out whom, and learn from them? Learning to Fly shows exactly how to put theory into practice, sharing the tools used and the experience and insights gained by two leading knowledge management practitioners.

In Learning to Fly Chris Collison and Geoff Parcell share their experiences from BP, one of the world9s leading knowledge organizations. It is a practical, pragmatic workbook packed with hints and tips to help managers put knowledge management into action immediately.

Have a read of this chapter to set the context for the rest of the book. In it we describe what each chapter is about in order to help you navigate your way around. So whether you want to get an overview of knowledge management, or whether you want some tools or techniques that you can apply, or you want to know what BP is currently doing with knowledge management, you'll learn exactly where to go.

We've just finished dealing with a kitchen design engineer. We want to improve our kitchen layout. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen and although its functional, it could be turned into something altogether more efficient and have a better ambience. So we have called in an expert. How can we ascertain whether this person knows what they are talking about, and whether what they are proposing is absolutely necessary, fits our body shapes and is in our interests rather than lining the pockets of the engineer?

The simple answer is we can't, we have to trust the expert. But how can we trust an engineer who only crossed the threshold 15 minutes ago? We can begin by asking a few simple questions and listen to the response we get; not only to the content of the response but also the way he delivers it. Is he talking down to us, or talking in technical terms and acronyms that we don't understand? Or is he pitching it at a level we can understand and checking for our understanding? Is he telling us stories to demonstrate a point and at the same time demonstrating his track record?

'I did a job for a television presenter in Maidenhead recently and she had a built in microwave, a fridge with slide out drawers and a fantastic cooking hob in the round. She was ecstatic. Not only was preparing quick meals for the family simplified, she could also entertain dinner guests in the kitchen whilst she was finishing the cooking. And do you know what her favourite dish was?'

What of his appearance? He is dressed smartly to show some respect, but has hands that have clearly been used to manual work. He has the tools of his trade about him, a measure, a pencil and pad, and a screwdriver to prod at the plaster. What does that tell us about the quality of the job he is likely to do?

This is the third engineer we've invited round to quote. We looked for a selection from the Yellow Pages(r) telephone directory, all work locally and each offers something different. As well as being able to compare the prices for the job, we are learning better questions to ask and also what differentiates their service and their products. Now which one shall we choose?

Increasingly each of us is being asked to be accountable for more and more both at work and in our private lives. Who suffers if the kitchen is not installed properly? We do. We have to keep out of the kitchen for a while longer and the family complains. We learn all the time; we learn what questions to ask so that when the time is right we make the right decision.

The authors were part of a team who got started in knowledge management by asking simple questions of others both inside and outside their organisation, BP. As we developed confidence in ourselves and inspired confidence in others that they could make a difference, we had a real impact on business performance. Once you have sorted out what you know and what you need to know, it's easy to ask a question to fill the gap in your knowledge.

BP is a multinational company of 100,000 people involved in:

• exploration for, and production of, oil and gas;
• refining of crude oil;
• the marketing of gasoline, lubricants and aviation fuel;
• the manufacture and sales of petro-chamicals;
• gas production, distribution and sales;
• power generation; and
• solar and renewable sources of energy.

BP is also socially and environmentally responsible and makes money for its shareholders. The company is headed by Sir John Browne, who believes that sharing what we know drives improved business performance. BP is divided into 150 businesses, some with as few as 50 people. We have learned that the principles of knowledge management can be adapted to any size of business.

One of the first projects we worked on was in Vietnam. BP has a business there developing a project to produce gas from the South China Sea, and deliver it onshore where it is converted to electricity to support the country's growing power requirement. The business had been made aware of knowledge management at a time when negotiations with the Vietnamese government had broken down. and they were prepared to try anything once.

We flew in to Ho Chi Minh City With Ed Guthrie, a retired US Army Colonel, without any clear idea of the problem or of how we might solve it. And we were the experts!

We asked a simple question, 'What is the main issue you have to deal with?' We asked that of a large number of People in the organisation for the first three days. There were different views on what the issue was, each person seeing the issue from their own particular stance. By reviewing the responses we got, we were able to pose more focused questions to understand the issues better. Ed noticed the parallels between the US Army's approach and BP's approach to Vietnam.

'You came here for one reason, looking for a big oilfield. Yet when you found something different, gas, you didn't change your tactics, your approach. You wanted the Vietnamese to follow your way of doing business. That's just like us (The US Army). We came into this country, in the 60s for one reason. What we found was rather different. They didn't operate to our rules...

Chris Collison leads BP9s efforts in knowledge technology and personal productivity. He has presented BP9s knowledge management story to audiences around the world, participating at major international conferences in five continents, as well as working with government departments and business leaders from other organisations. He has been the author or contributor to many articles in specialist knowledge management publications, as well as broadsheets such as the Financial Times and Daily Telegraph.

Geoff Parcell is a practitioner. He has a wealth of experience gained from a diverse career in BP that has taken him from Vietnam to Brazil, from geophysicist to facilitator. A core member of BP9s knowledge management team during the late 90s, he now leads a company-wide initiative for excellence in operations, truly embedding knowledge management in operational activities.