Building the Enterprise of the Future

Competing in the Global Knowledge Economy:

Transforming your organization into an Enterprise of the Future

Events:

31 March 2010, Ashburn, VA: Drs. Art Murray and Mirghani Mohamed, speaking on the Knowledge Cloud at Dulles Area Transportation Association's: "Neither Snow Nor Sleet: Telework = Business Continuity"

3 May 2010, Washington, DC: Dr. Art Murray, KM 2010 panelist: "KM Curricula: Instruction and Research at Leading Universities"

14 June 2010, New Orleans: Dr. Art Murray and Ken Wheaton at SLA 2010: "Rise of the Knowledge Librarian"

17 November 2010, Washington, DC: Dr. Art Murray and Tom Beckman, AKS Principal Knowledge Scientist at KMWorld 2010: "Learning from Lessons Learned"

18 November 2010, Washington, DC: Dr. Art Murray and Eric Mack, President of ICA at KMWorld 2010: "Future Focused Formulas for Enterprise KM Success"

An Opportunity for Real Change: Three Steps You Can Take Now¹

by Dr. Art Murray and Jeff Lesher

Today’s economic climate – however distressing – has confirmed that traditional business models are unsustainable and no longer work. They don’t work because they're too slow and impede the flow of knowledge – the exact opposite of what is needed to succeed in a turbulent, high-risk economy.

In the Enterprise of the Future, we are forming new business models that allow organizations to learn and innovate at a rate equal to or faster than the speed of change in the market. It’s like having Jedi reflexes when everyone else is still trying to figure out what’s going on.

While there is very little we can do about the global situation as a whole, we can use it as an opportunity to pause and reflect on how our own organizations operate. Now is the time to introduce some serious changes and reboot, not merely engage in frantic activity.

Outlined below are three specific transformations we’ve studied, implemented, and recommend for you to get started. There are many more transformations and much more work needed to sustain your success. However, these initial steps will allow you to introduce new ways of doing business that will help propel you forward. We’ve laid them out in a sequence that works well for many organizations, but we don’t prescribe one “right” way.

Whichever one you pick, roll it out and hammer it home. Don't stop until the transformation is complete. Then pick another and repeat. Resist all temptation (including the usual Luddite rebellions) to revert back to the safety and comfort of the old ways. It should be obvious by now there is no safety in repeating past mistakes and even less comfort in the inevitable failure of doing the same things and expecting different results. When the economy recovers – and recover it will – you will be well-positioned to move ahead of the pack if you invest the effort now in adapting your organization to the future that's already upon us.

Transformation #1 – Make the move from hierarchies to networks once and for all

Transformation #2 – Make the cultural shift from silos and knowledge hoarding to openness and knowledge sharing

Transformation #3 – Shift your performance focus from profits to value creation