The Knowledge Engine: How to Create Fast Cycles of Knowledge-to-Performance and Performance-to-Knowledge

The new economy moves with lightning speed. Those who would lead no longer have the luxury of analyzing, planning, then implementing. They must plan and implement simultaneously. Learning and performance must be integrated into a continuous cycle: knowledge must be captured from performance as it is happening and used to improve the next round of performance.
In their new book, Lloyd Baird and John Henderson show how to produce knowledge as part of the work process and quickly apply that learning back to performance to create a "knowledge engine" that drives ongoing performance improvement and adds value in every area of the organization. Built on five years of research and application in leading corporations, The Knowledge Engine details a five-step knowledge-performance cycle, explaining how to:
Focus on exactly what is necessary to drive performance and create competitive advantage
Acquire knowledge you can use as you go, performing and learning simultaneously
Structure learning so that it can be shared and benefit the entire organization
Target knowledge so that the organization applies it when and where it is really needed
Reflect on the big picture the new knowledge presents, consolidate it, and identify new areas of focus
The book includes a wealth of practical tools that organizations can use to put each step of the knowledge-performance cycle into actual practice-such as an "After Action Review, " that helps explore lessons learned from performance and a "Peer Review, " that gets what others know into the performance process quickly.
The Knowledge Engine not only explains the principles of creating and leveraging knowledge as an asset that will provide competitive advantage-it gives concrete examples of how to do it right now. The authors provide extensive illustrations of how leading organizations-including BP Amoco, Xerox, the U.S. Army, Merck, and Lucent-are getting improved performance and bottom line results by creating their own "knowledge engines, " and offer a framework to help any organization implement systems and procedures for leveraging its knowledge assets.

Dr. Baird is Professor of Management at Boston University and Executive Director of the Leadership Institute, which he helped found. He is currently a principal at the Systems Research Center and Research Director of the Executive Development Roundtable focusing on the role of top executives and executive development. Each of these Institutes and Roundtables brings together leading organizations to work common issues and problems. Together they represent over 100 corporations devoted to staying on the cutting edge of practice. They fund research and joint projects to test out new theories and applications. They provide the guidance, on site coordination and validate the findings by quickly testing them in real world situations. We provide the research capability and an objective outsider role testing their assumptions and suggesting solutions.

John C. Henderson, is Chair of the Management Information Systems Department, Director of the Systems Research Center and is the Richard G. Shipley Endowed Chair at Boston University’s School of Management. As Director of the Systems Research Center he is involved globally with top corporations developing and implementing corporate information technology strategy. Most recently he is working with them developing strategies and applications which fit a faster moving, dynamic economy. He received he Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a noted researcher, consultant and executive educator with published papers appearing in journals such as Management Science, Sloan Management Review, MIS Quarterly, IBM Systems Journal, European Management Journal, and many others. He is often sought out for editorial comment in academic and applied journals and is popular with journalists as one who understands both the worlds of theory and application.