Published
There is an inherent issue around people in major projects not always wanting to learn from other major projects because their way is a better way of doing it
I was struck by this quotation from Simon Kirby of Nichols Group in our recent Pace of Pace Podcast. It clearly signals a long-understood obstacle to the adoption of new ways of working: ‘not invented here syndrome‘, We often blame this on the unwillingness of individuals (and indeed whole organisations) to translate ideas from another sector into a form that is relevant for their projects.
There is no shortage of ideas or lessons on which people might draw for inspiration. I can attest to that, both thanks to my ongoing review of the Association’s extraordinary archive of reports, which stretches back 40 years. and to my experience as a business books publisher.
It doesn’t really help to bemoan the fact that ‘people don’t read books’, which is a common complaint amongst publishers and authors alike. Nor is the solution necessarily in trying somehow to amplify the immediate appeal of the ideas (we’ve all fallen for ‘click-bait’ on social media, which illustrates that getting someone to sit up and take notice will only serve to frustrate them if the ultimate pay-off doesn’t give them value). Etienne and Bev Wenger-Trayner provide a great explanation of just how much work new knowledge needs to do in order to achieve real value in an organisation.
There are suggestions elsewhere in the podcast that offer an alternative approach; recognising the need to invest (real money) in processes, systems, people and time to facilitate learning and innovation. Knowledge managers understand this principle all too well. Katrina Pugh in her great 2011 book Sharing Hidden Know How explains in detail the role and value of the knowledge broker. He or she is someone who understands both the knowledge to be shared AND the context and role of the people at whom the knowledge is aimed. This allows the broker to effectively provide a ‘translation’ of the knowledge into a form that (a) people can understand, (b) excites and engages them and (c) can be readily assimilated into their everyday work practices and routines.
David Haimes, of National Highways A66 programme, describes the tiny team of three people who work in the ‘aftercare team’; tasked with facilitating the adoption of new ways of working across multiple projects. It sounds like a great initiative: small enough to represent a sustainable resource and yet a perfect size to provide the impetus needed to embed the practice.
Rebecca Collings, also from Nichols, comments elsewhere in the podcast that:
Collaboration is something that is bandied around a lot but is often left to fate!
This then, may be the way to go. Stop berating people for failing to adopt new ideas or new knowledge and don’t try to continually up the ante in giving your knowledge shares additional ‘curb appeal’ in the hope that they will somehow become stickier. Instead, find sensible, modest, ways to invest in helping people understand and assimilate the knowledge and make this investment and the strategy behind it part of the project organisation.