Please join AOK from October 20th - 31st, 2003.
In order to participate in this AOK Star Series dialogue you must be a member of AOK - membership is free.
Melissie Rumizen
Practical Curmudgeon Takes Us Forward to Basics
by Jerry Ash, Founder and Chief Executive, Association of Knowledgework
"The announcement of Melissie Rumizen as moderator for the STAR Series Dialogue for October has caused a bit of a buzz. Existing members are telling me they are looking forward to the discussion and new members are joining specifically to catch the conversations October 20-31.
Dr. Melissie Clemmons Rumizen, author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Knowledge Management," available through the AOK Bookstore, is the knowledge strategist at Buckman Laboratories where she developed and maintains its award-winning KM Website - Buckman Laboratories Knowledge Nurture.
Melissie also maintains a great sense of humor, evidenced by her "The Complete Idiot's Guide" title which is a registered trademark series of Pearson Education, Inc. Therefore, the choice of publisher finally puts KM in a mainstream publication where it needs to be more frequently. In her unofficial biography she describes her profession as "rabble-rouser," and if she were an animal in a zoo she would be a mongoose. In case you are not familiar with the characteristics of a mongoose, they are smallest of the lemurs with binocular vision and a keen sense of olfactory communication (smell). Mongoose lemurs have a very different behavioral pattern from most primates and the female is dominant!
In reality, Melissie began her career as a German and Russian linguist in the U.S. Army. Later, her language skills landed her a job with the National Security Agency (NSA) where she eventually transferred to the total quality management office. That led her to a KM conference where she and a colleague became convinced KM was an imperative for NSA to succeed. They became a team and by 1997 KM became a strategic goal. The team turned its attention to helping determine the first steps for implementation, but in 1998, Melissie joined former STAR Series moderator Bob Buckman at Buckman Labs.
In her discussion beginning Monday, Melissie would like to play the role of "Knowledge Curmudgeon," which she defines as someone who is stubbornly and determinedly grounded in the practical. I had originally asked her if she would help us return to KM basics, but as we have talked about the focus of the next two weeks it occurred to me that it isn't "back," but "forward" to basics because the basics have been changing as KM develops and matures.
However, whether it's backward or forward, our intent is to bring the conversations back down to where newbies can not only understand the dialogue but participate in it. Lurkers lurk for many reasons, but the one I hear most often is that learners are intimidated by the deep knowledge (and language) of both the moderators and participants and, therefore, they are uncomfortable engaging at the level of most conversations. So this one's for those who will enjoy a return to the basics.
At the same time, "forward" to basics suggests that those of us who have been on this trail for a long time have something to learn from a mongoose. We could all learn something from an animal with a keen sense of smell and binocular vision!
So, do your homework! Melissie's opening thoughts are in the STAR Series Web pages -- "Preparing for Conversations with Melissie Rumizen."
K-Collector