KM/Knowledge Services Certification
Guy St. Clair
At the LinkedIn Knowledge Management Group, Firoz Kahn recently asked, “I’ve been in the field for a number of years and recently my employer has asked for me to recommend some courses to get some official titles under my belt in KM. Any ideas?”
Here’s how I responded.
Thanks for bringing this up, Firoz. The proper response depends on how you define “certification.” If you’re looking for a certificate that simply states that you have attended a course or a program of courses (i.e., you and your management are satisfied with a statement that simply attests to the fact that you have acquired the content of the course), there are many opportunities, both commercial programs and in programs offered through associations, professional groups, etc.
If you are looking for certification as accredited by an accrediting organization, such as IACET, the International Association for Continuing Education and Training, which awards CEUs – continuing education units – or other accrediting bodies, there are several. I’m familiar with (and my colleagues and I teach in) the Special Libraries Association Click U program, which awards CEUs. And there are many others, I’m sure, particularly in the U.K.
If you are looking for accredited certification in the academic community, there are many universities that offer KM programs. I am affiliated with a slightly different program, the M.S. in Information and Knowledge Strategy at Columbia University in New York. This program is not strictly KM focused, as its emphasis is how KM/knowledge services applies in organizational management, particularly in matching the organization’s knowledge strategy to its business strategy.
Would be interested in others’ experience in this area. I’ll share any comments with the other KM-focused groups on LinkedIn, as well as here.
Thanks.
- Guy St. Clair
Guy –
This a great clarification about the certification. (And, to all that are reading this, full disclosure: I’m going to also be teaching at Columbia with Guy St Clair, and I’m on the Board of the Knowledge Management Institute of Canada.)
My sense is that the most important thing is for any individual to 1.) Stay focused on their business problem (which may be operations effectiveness, revenue, or innovation), and select a program that gets you actively solving that problem; 2.) Get involved in a community. Find a mentor. Get out onto Twitter. Most importantly, get to know people so that you can pick up the phone and learn in conversation. No matter what program you participate in — certificate, certification or masters — you will get more out of it if you are intentional about working on something relevant to you and if you build (grow) your personal network of practitioners.
Kate
Very much agree with the steps Kate recommends, and encourage all of us working (or thinking about working) in KM/knowledge services to take the time to continue the education process, no matter which specific learning goal we have in mind. Whether it’s formal academic learning, certification, or taking courses for the content and for no other recognition, it’s critical to “keep moving” in the strategic learning process. This entire field is moving rapidly – and changing rapidly – and we have an obligation to ourselves as well as to our employing organizations to continue to learn about our discipline. And the track Kate suggests (focusing on the business problem, selecting an “active” program, and getting involved all contribute to strategic learning about KM/knowledge services. Well said, Kate.
Catherine Voutier at LinkedIn’s KM Practitioners Group comments with a further suggestion:
Australian universities offer courses in KM – check each institution to see if they offer distance education. http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/handbooks/courses/3340.html http://www.handbook.uts.edu.au/courses/c07105.html
Guy St. Clair responds:
Thanks. Always interested in what is going on in the KM academic community. What we’re doing at Columbia is a little different, not strictly KM/knowledge services – more strategy focused than lots of programs but I’m seeing more of these coming along. Appreciate your sharing the links.
Lawrence Hiner III at the SLA KM Division Group posted:
At the Professional School of Psychology, we’re looking to develop a graduate certificate program as a subset and lead in to the full doctorate in Organizational Learning. Interested persons can connect with me directly at lawrence.hiner@jhu.edu
Guy St. Clair: Thanks for telling us about this. Good to see the connection between KM and organizational learning given this attention. Very important.
Douglas Weidner at the Knowledge Management Education (KMedu) Hub LinkedIn Groups contributes:
Guy,
I agree that both positive and negative experiences are beneficial, if one can “stand the truth!” (line from a famous movie – title escapes me)
Some would argue that failures can be even more powerful, because they are more obvious and affect you.
An alternative school of thought (Appreciative Inquiry on organizational level, and “Now Discover Your Strengths” by Buckingham on personal level) argue that you can’t learn how to succeed by looking at failures or focusing on your weaknesses. Examples might include: you can’t learn how to have a happy marriage by studying divorce, or, you can’t learn how to be happy by studying how to cure the depressed.
Until these two schools find the final answer, I guess I’m with you – cover both bases.
I like to teach a couple of concepts:
* Raise the critical issues that would enable you to accomplish your objective as well as the assumptions that can be most easily tested and/or are the potential deal killers
* If not successful, what would it have taken to be successful.
And of course, a SWOT-type analysis, by whatever name, is always insightful.
Guy St. Clair responds:
Thanks, Doug, for your very thoughtful response.
Yes, we do have to try to cover both bases (not always easy, since there’s so much built-in resistance when we remember a less-than-successful activity). I’m often accused (if that’s not too strong a word) of being “too” optimistic in my approach to many things, and certainly skepticism doesn’t come easy to folks like me.
But in our work in KM/knowledge services, I suppose we have to “play” both sides and hope that we can make a case for our clients that at least recognizing the lessons of a negative experience is part of understanding (and learning from) the whole picture.
So we just keep trying and, yes, the good ol’ SWOT analysis keeps coming in handy.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
John Lewis comments:
I agree with both of you gentlemen. I think Guy’s key word was “lesson” of which there are those that teach us what works, and those that teach us what does not work. I think both work better than just what works, but instruction on what does not work – does not make a good educational strategy.
Guy St. Clair responds:
Well said, John. So the “response picture” I’m getting is that in working with KM/knowledge services and advising our colleagues and clients. I guess that means we also have to take the time to see (and attempt to understand) all sides of an issue, even if that means we have to set aside – metaphorically speaking – some of our preconceived ideas about what the solution might me. Takes a lot of patience, doesn’t it?
From Boris Jaeger at the LinkedIn KMEdu Hub Group:
Thanks a lot to all for this great discussion. Just let me add one of my favorite quotes.
“Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Guy St Clair:
Appreciate that appropriate quote, Boris. Good to keep in mind.
At the LinkedIn KMEdu Hub Group, Michael Kiffmeyer:
I believe it is important to include both positive and negative experiences to any knowledge management solutions but I would offer this. Ask any CEO of any organization what one of their biggest concerns are and they will tell you it is accessing the knowledge that they know they have but have difficulty getting.
The past twenty five years I have provided learning services to organizations everywhere and one common denominator that I have found is systems are necessary but they have to take into consideration how people work. Learning and knowledge management is not so much an even but an ongoing process. People every where need explicit and tacit knowledge at their fingertips to work quickly and efficiently at the point of impact to make the right decisions at the right time.
Sid Kaskey at LinkedIn’s SLA New York Chapter Group comments:
Going through a certification process does not necessarily mean that a participant is qualified but it does tend to mean that one more professional obligation has been placed in front of potential practitioners. Too often certification evolves from voluntary to required and then benefits for the individual or organization are great but not so much so for those having to obtain the certification.