Preparing
for Conversations with Nick Milton
Increasing Performance
Through Knowledge
Dr. Nick Milton
Managing
Director and Co-Founder
Knoco Ltd., UK
 Biography
Dr. Nick Milton
is a managing director and co-founder of Knoco Ltd --
a Knowledge Management consultancy comprised of seasoned
knowledge management practitioners, mentors, and coaches formerly,
members of the internationally acclaimed British Petroleum Group
Knowledge Management Team. Knoco provides strategic direction,
training, and KM service work to a broad range of industries.
Clients include
major multinationals such as BP, De Beers and Mars/Masterfoods,
as well as major British firms. Nick's main roles include:
- Provision of training
courses (including the BP in-house KM course)
- Conducting KM assessments
- Capturing and packaging
team and project knowledge
- Community launch
events
- KM strategy and
implementation planning, and
- Delivery of KM
pilots.
Prior to founding
Knoco Ltd., Nick acted as Knowledge Manager for the Knowledge
Management Implementation Team at BP. This team spent two years
developing and implementing a process by which the business could
make maximum benefit of the knowledge and experience within the
organization. The team delivered $260 million in measurable benefit
to BP business units through 1998 pilot projects.
Nick's role in this
team was to build and perfect the methods and approach, and to
act as a coach and trainer for people in the business. His specific
achievements were:
- Developing a practical
system for knowledge management
- Engaging business
units world wide in the value of KM
- Building and sustaining
a KM Community of Practice
- Acting as global
consultant and advisor for KM activities
- Developing and
delivering events for training business staff in the implementation
of knowledge management for business benefit
- Organizing, collating,
packaging and deploying BP's knowledge assets for key business
topics
- Facilitating major
knowledge-capture and exchange events
Nick also spent
five years as Quality Advisor and Knowledge Manager for BP Norway,
during that business' most successful period (over a decade).
His background and training are in the field of petroleum exploration
geology.
Nick has an MA in
Natural Sciences (1st Class) from the University of Cambridge,
England, and a PhD from the University of Wales. He has authored
several articles on knowledge management, and is co-author of
a forthcoming book, Performance through Learning: Knowledge
Management in Practice. He lives in the village of Cheddar
in Somerset, England.
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Opening
remarks
My view on knowledge
management is a very practical one. Since I started in this field
in 1992 in Norway, my interest has been in increasing the performance
of teams and individuals through the use of knowledge. The link
between performance and knowledge is, to me, a crucial one. Knowledge
is derived from performance; performance is fuelled by knowledge.
I was lucky to have
been employed by the oil industry during the great performance
leap of the 90s; indeed my previous employer BP embraced performance
management more enthusiastically than any other organisation
I have met. The Deming cycle of "Plan, Do, Measure, Learn"
is a mantra in the oil industry, and KM provides the sustainable
organisational learning component.
For me, KM is easiest
to implement in an organisation that practices teamwork, that
works in projects, and that measures and manages performance.
In such organisations, KM finds an easy niche, and has been taken
to levels of implementation and assurance, which compare well
with the management of other assets. I think I am finding that
even in other organisational cultures, where teamwork and performance
management are absent, KM can add value, but perhaps will not
reach the level of maturity and embedding that parts of the oil
industry have achieved.
Our conversation
on KM and performance management may also include a discussion
of cultural blockers and enablers in developing a knowledge-driven
environment.
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