The Knowledge Systems Playbook

The Knowledge Systems Playbook

Your organization has a strategy.
But does everyone know what it means for them to act on it?
Your organization has a strategy.
But does everyone know what it means for them to act on it?
Your organization has a strategy.
But does everyone know what it means for them to act on it?

Strategy can define where an organization wants to go without making clear what needs to change, who needs to act, what resources are required, or how different parts of the organization should work together.

A strategy can therefore be agreed upon without becoming actionable.

Strategy can define where an organization wants to go without making clear what needs to change, who needs to act, what resources are required, or how different parts of the organization should work together.

A strategy can therefore be agreed upon without becoming actionable.

    Where does this show up in your organization?

    The strategy is clear to leadership

    The strategy is clear to leadership

    But departments interpret it differently.

    But departments interpret it differently.

    Teams continue existing priorities

    Teams continue existing priorities

    New strategic objectives don't necessarily change how work is organized.

    New strategic objectives don't necessarily change how work is organized.

    Projects don't clearly connect to strategy

    Projects don't clearly connect to strategy

    The strategic rationale becomes difficult to explain.

    The strategic rationale becomes difficult to explain.

    KPIs measure activity

    KPIs measure activity

    But not necessarily whether strategic objectives are being achieved.

    But not necessarily whether strategic objectives are being achieved.

    Knowledge remains fragmented

    Knowledge remains fragmented

    Knowledge remains fragmented

    Different parts of the organization hold pieces of what is needed to act.


    Different parts of the organization hold pieces of what is needed to act.


    Implementation becomes an execution problem

    Implementation becomes an execution problem

    When action becomes difficult, assumptions behind the strategy aren't always revisited.

    When action becomes difficult, assumptions behind the strategy aren't always revisited.

    They may look like different problems.

    But what if they are connected?

    They may look like different problems.

    But what if they are connected?

    What happens between strategic intent and coordinated action?

    Organisations already contain substantial knowledge:

    Organisations already contain substantial knowledge:

    Strategy. Budgets. Projects. Operational data. Customer knowledge. Expertise. Systems. Previous decisions. Experience.

    Yet these forms of knowledge are often organized according to different purposes, departments and perspectives.

    What if the problem is not a lack of knowledge, but the way organizational knowledge is connected?

    The Knowledge Systems Playbook explores whether an explicit organizational reasoning architecture can help connect strategic intent, action, conceptual understanding, operationalization and learning.

    The Knowledge System

    Knowledge → Action → Learning → New Knowledge

    The Knowledge Systems Playbook provides an organizational reasoning architecture for navigating these transformations.

    The purpose is not to tell an organization which methodology to use.

    Frameworks, methods, KPIs and operational practices can all be useful. The question is what they are doing for the action plan, and what the organization learns from using them.

    The Knowledge System helps the organization examine what it needs to understand, connect, decide, change and learn in order to move forward.

    Level 0: Organizational Landscape

    The organization begins with its current landscape and strategic interpretation.

    Level 0: Organizational Landscape

    The organization begins with its current landscape and strategic interpretation.

    Level 1: The Action Plan

    The Action Plan makes strategic intent actionable.

    Level 1: The Action Plan

    The Action Plan makes strategic intent actionable.

    Level 2: The Conceptual System

    The Conceptual System develops the relationships and representations required to understand and support that action.

    Level 2: The Conceptual System

    The Conceptual System develops the relationships and representations required to understand and support that action.

    Level 3: Operationalization

    Operationalization establishes how the action can actually be enacted.

    Level 3: Operationalization

    Operationalization establishes how the action can actually be enacted.

    Level 4: Evaluation & Learning

    Evaluation and learning transform experience into organizational capability and memory.

    Level 4: Evaluation & Learning

    Evaluation and learning transform experience into organizational capability and memory.

    New Level 0: New Organizational Landscape

    That learning becomes part of an updated organizational landscape for the next cycle. The process is not a maturity ladder. It is a way of navigating organizational reasoning.

    New Level 0: New Organizational Landscape

    That learning becomes part of an updated organizational landscape for the next cycle. The process is not a maturity ladder. It is a way of navigating organizational reasoning.