Knowledge Management Mentorship

Organizational Learning

Improved Collaboration and Innovation: Brilliance Mining™ fosters a culture of collaboration and knowledge sharing within organizations. By capturing and sharing knowledge, organizations unlock the collective wisdom and expertise of their employees. This, in turn, promotes a collaborative work environment where individuals learn from one another, exchange valuable insights, and co-create innovative solutions to business challenges. The knowledge shared through Brilliance Mining™ acts as a catalyst for continuous improvement, driving organizational innovation and growth.

At its core, KM encompasses the processes, tools, and practices that enable organizations to capture explicit knowledge (formal, codified information) and tacit knowledge (personal experiences, skills, and insights) and convert them into shared knowledge assets. By providing mechanisms for knowledge creation, storage, retrieval, and dissemination, KM empowers organizations to leverage their intellectual capital and derive strategic advantage from their knowledge resources.

Dr. Althouse's unique approach transcends conventional boundaries, as she equips her clients to navigate and thrive amidst rapid change - a phenomenon she refers to as 'Super Change'’ Her keen eye uncovers hidden opportunities, addresses overlooked challenges, and stimulates transformative growth.

On the other hand, Knowledge Transfer is a symbiotic process involving the transmission of tacit and explicit knowledge from one individual, team, or organization to another. This facilitates the leveraging of expertise, the broadening of skill sets, and the preservation of critical knowledge, especially in the face of employee turnover. Knowledge Transfer fosters a culture of shared understanding, continuous learning, and mutual development, strengthening both the individuals and the collective.

Results: Within a six-month period, the company regained profitability through improved hiring practices, a unified estimating process, and refined bidding criteria. By streamlining these processes and providing training, the company experienced significant improvements in profitability. Additionally, the successful implementation of employee ownership thinking created a more engaged and empowered workforce.

"101 Quick Tips for High-Talent Companies" and "101 Quick Tips for ESOP Leaders." by Dr. Stephie Althouse. These books are full of practical insights and strategies. Dr. Stephie offers group coaching programs: Coaching, the book, and an online learning portal.

Information Sharing

Shared Understanding

Knowledge Management and Artificial Intelligence

Digital Marketing Company: Through Brilliance Mining, the marketing company harnessed the expertise of its owners, who were highly experienced and outstanding in their field. By capturing and sharing their brilliance with prospective clients via powerful visuals and emails, the company tripled its business within a year. It further evolved its focus, honed in on a specific niche (digital marketing for plastic surgeons), and achieved a significant revenue increase. It is now doing at least 500k in annual revenues.

Summarizing the Brilliance Mining Journey

Peer Learning

Knowledge Discovery

Knowledge Personalization: AI can personalize knowledge delivery based on individual needs and preferences. By analyzing user behavior and preferences, AI systems can provide customized recommendations, learning paths, and content suggestions, ensuring that individuals have access to the most relevant knowledge for their specific roles or interests.

"The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation" by Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi - This influential book presents a comprehensive framework for knowledge creation and transfer within organizations, drawing on case studies from Japanese companies known for their innovation.

Integrating Brilliance Mining into your organization's knowledge management and knowledge transfer strategy is essential for reaping its benefits. Here are key steps to effectively integrate Brilliance Mining:

Personal Development

A human Brilliance Miner focuses on working with human experts who hold undocumented expertise in their brains. AI cannot read anyone’s mind. It lacks contextual understanding. Human problem-solving and creativity, and ethical considerations.

If you're inspired by the idea of effective knowledge management and transfer through the Brilliance Mining Method, and the case studies we've described have piqued your interest, there are a range of resources available to help you take the next steps. The Brilliance Mine Academy offers a range of courses and memberships that provide access to the tools and resources you need to implement the Brilliance Mining Method in your organization. Whether you're an individual looking to improve your knowledge management skills or an organization looking to develop a successful knowledge transfer strategy, the Brilliance Mine Academy has something to offer.

Organizational Learning: The process by which an organization acquires, creates, shares, and utilizes knowledge to improve its performance, adapt to change, and drive innovation.

Information Technology

Training and Development Programs: Offering structured training and development programs, workshops, seminars, and webinars allows individuals to acquire new skills, knowledge, and insights. These programs can be customized to address specific organizational needs and can include both internal and external subject matter experts. They provide a platform for knowledge sharing, peer learning, and the dissemination of industry best practices.

To ensure effective Knowledge Transfer, organizations can employ various techniques and strategies:

The future of knowledge management and knowledge transfer with Brilliance Mining holds great promise. As organizations increasingly recognize the value of capturing and sharing critical knowledge, Brilliance Mining will be at the forefront of shaping how this is accomplished.

Process Management

Regaining Profitability: The company had suffered financial setbacks due to the economic slowdown and inadequate systems and processes. The hiring and estimating practices were flawed, resulting in underbidding and loss of profitability. By extracting the current practices and identifying areas for improvement, a unified estimating process, and better hiring practices were implemented. It was also revealed that the company had not established and documented processes as they scaled up, further impacting profitability. Brilliance Mining led to the implementation of standardized processes and systems to streamline operations.

Brilliance Mining in Practice

Case Study: Train Junior Staff to Seniority Faster: A company faced the challenge of lengthy training periods required for junior architects and engineers to reach the skill levels of their senior colleagues. By implementing Brilliance Mining, they identified the critical knowledge and skills that set senior staff apart. Through effective documentation, training programs, and mentorship, they significantly reduced the training timeline, accelerating the development of their junior team members. This not only increased employee satisfaction and loyalty but also boosted revenues and profits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, there are several ways: One is to immediately begin making video (or at least audio) recordings of any and all training you are already doing anyway. This is Brilliance Extraction at “naturally occurring opportunities.”

Secondly, you can sign up for the free membership at the Brilliance Mine Academy and take the first module of the introductory course on the Brilliance Mining Method. This will only take 15 minutes and provide you with a foundational understanding of the method and how to apply it in your organization.

What is the best way to get started with Brilliance Mining?

You begin with Brilliance Mapping and write down which areas of Brilliance you have. This will not be a complete list because you are not going to think of it all, but it is a great start. Then consider:

  • Which area is the easiest to start with (perhaps you are working on improving this area right now or are training someone in it)?

  • Or which area would as have the most positive impact on your business if it was documented and made trainable?

  • If the two overlap, that is even better!

Most of all, just get started!

Of course, the answer is, “It depends.” That said, we have had clients who had something tangible in their hands after just one session, something that made a difference to them. Or, another client had his entire Secret Sauce documented within six weeks after not being able to teach it to his team for twelve years completely. The key is to go for an early win. Ditch perfectionism and quickly create something that is useful. You can still refine it later. Furthermore, we recommend you use the early version to get valuable feedback which might influence the direction of how you proceed.

To form a successful culture around knowledge sharing, it is important to create an environment where employees feel comfortable sharing their knowledge. This can be achieved by creating a culture of openness and transparency, where employees are encouraged to share their ideas and insights without fear of judgment or criticism. It is also important to help employees understand the benefits of sharing their knowledge, such as professional and personal growth opportunities, and to reward them for doing so. This can be done through bonuses, salary raises, or employee ownership, as well as opportunities to work on exciting projects and tasks. By creating a win-win scenario where employees are happy and well-trained, you can foster a culture of knowledge sharing that will help your organization thrive.

It is important to update your knowledge management system regularly to ensure that it remains relevant and useful to your organization. The frequency of updates will depend on the nature of your business and the rate of change in your business and industry. However, it is generally recommended to update your knowledge management system frequently, ideally as soon as you learn that something is missing or needs to be updated. I encourage you to build a culture that encourages employees to contribute to the system regularly, as this will help to keep it up-to-date and relevant to their needs.