Adoption

My friend Sunil has raised a question which has vexed a lot of people, so I dont think it would be wise for me to say that I have an answer. But I think the question needs to be elaborated.

In Hindi, and most other languages in India, there is the story of the Kuen ka Mendhak, or Koopomonduk (depending on which part of the country you come from, and these two are only examples ...). Translated, the Frog of the Well. This is the frog who spent his entire life in the well, and believed that all there is to the world is the well. There was no way he could even begin to fathom the river, and the freedom it could bring to him. And, when asked to come out of the well and live in the river, he was petrified.

So, the question Sunil raises boils down to one of getting the frog to come out of the well. I think its basically a question of telling the frog that theres a beautiful world out there.

Push (from the Boss) may be the simple way out, but I dont think its very sustainable. In the long run, this would require more effort, because we are not generating the desire to collaborate. One possibility is to develop a "sales campaign" based on actual user experience, some kind of poster-boys for KM. This, if course, requires that a start be made somewhere. And I don't think that is as difficult as it seems.

No, this is not instant success. The process of adoption would be slow, but definitely something which will sustain.