Author: David Kay

  • The Big Ideas Behind KCS

    The Big Ideas Behind KCS

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    Back when I was first exposed to KCS, in 1998 or so, it was very principles-focused.  Perhaps this is a polite way of saying, we hadn’t yet figured out very specific guidance to give support organizations, so we talked in generalities:  “align to demand,” “migrate content towards the users,” and the like.  It’s all good…

  • Six Simple Measures for Community Managers

    Six Simple Measures for Community Managers

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    Not long ago, it seemed like there weren’t any reasonable measures for the health and effectiveness of communities; now it seems like there are too many!  We often see eSupport and community leaders trying to grapple with page after page of bar charts, line graphs, and tables, unsure what to pay attention to, and unsure…

  • Do We Really Have To Do This Globally?

    Do We Really Have To Do This Globally?

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    “Oh, sure, I mean, we’ll roll it out globally eventually, but is it really worth it to fly people in from all around the world for a design workshop?  Can’t we just figure it out first, and then tell them what to do later?  Travel budgets are tight.” Travel budgets are tight, and accommodating global…

  • The Power of Feedback

    The Power of Feedback

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    Last time in this space, we discussed the power of appreciation.  Let’s explore another primal human need—the need to answer the question, “how am I doing?” It starts early.  Watch a small child doing something new:  she will be looking anxiously at a parent to see if the action brings praise or censure.  As we…

  • The Power of Appreciation

    The Power of Appreciation

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    Really, it seems too good to be true.  If you heard about this in an email, you’d mark it as spam immediately.  “You’ll feel better, make the people around you feel better, improve relationships at work and at home, and make people more likely to listen to you.” Sure…do you have a Nigerian millionaire’s estate…

  • Keep An Eye On Your Customers’ Success

    Keep An Eye On Your Customers’ Success

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    Generally speaking, in Support we measure our operations:  time to resolve and backlog, for example.  But in Marketing, they measure customer behavior, like click-through rates and conversion rates.  In this case, I think Marketing has it right.  And from what I’m seeing, more Support leaders think so, too. The days of passively waiting for customers…

  • Keeping Two Sets of Books

    Keeping Two Sets of Books

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    I learned a great best practice for organizational change this week at the Consortium for Service Innovation’s executive summit in beautiful Chatham, Cape Cod:  Keep two sets of books! No, not in the bad way—not like Enron—but to enable change. Several industry leaders are keeping two sets of books to track performance on their current…

  • Sustainable Knowledge

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    Sustainability isn’t just a trend. Creating and fostering sustainable environments at work and at home are “what’s happening,” for very good reasons. Resources are becoming more and more limited, which requires us to do more with what we have. By thinking of knowledge sustainability, you are enabling the organization to practice knowledge management continuously, with…

  • You are not a scalable model

    You are not a scalable model

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      We mean this in the nicest way, but you don’t scale. You’ve put yourself in that process step with the best of intentions. Fortunately, but inconveniently, this knowledge management initiative is about to be come bigger and more powerful than you planned.  Trickles of customer-facing knowledge will become torrents.    Occasional suggestions will morph into…