Lean Knowledge Management: How NASA Implemented a Practical KM Program

Lean Knowledge Management is a masterfully written guide for process improvement relevant to a variety of industries. The author provides details on setting up an organizational knowledge program in a beautifully concise manner, free from jargon or the need to memorize a lexicon of unique management terminology. The author worked his way through NASA, beginning in the machine shop and progressing to upper levels of management (this progression is painfully rare in most industries in our era, unfortunately). Due to his experiences at all levels with NASA, he has a feel for both sides of the management structure-employee/engineer and supervisors. As such, he emphasizes clarity in processes and communication. He supplements his writing with interesting examples from history, both NASA and other industries. He also provides informative instruction in overcoming institutional inertia (common whenever a quality initiative emerges within an organization). This book is particularly effective for people who work in "high risk" industries (space flight, aerospace, nuclear power, and/or healthcare). I highly recommend this book.

Hats off to Roger Forsgren for this excellent book. By chronicling his amazing experience, we are the beneficiaries of his perspectives on Knowledge Management (KM) - especially for those, like me, with a passion for lessons learned. Clearly Roger was the right author for this book, leveraging his vast exposure to success & failure from the shop floor to the boardroom. I have nothing but great marks for this book - easy to read (actually captivating from the start), many simple examples & quotes to support concepts, and the recommendations are within reach for any organization modifying or starting a KM system. As a former NASA engineer and now retired manager from the auto industry, I see this as a valuable guide useful for many fields. And this includes business partners, contractors, and supply chains. In closing I must say thank you, Roger, for your energy and commitment to calibrate the rest of us. I eagerly await your next offering. Bravo..!!

Lean Knowledge Management is a must read, a real life line in today’s ever changing work environment. Corporate knowledge so useful to your company or business can all too often be taken for granted and lost if not managed and utilized properly. Roger's wealth of knowledge and real hands on experience clearly shines through as he masterfully and skillfully explains this important subject matter. You will enjoy his interesting history references that will have you reading this book cover to cover. Don't let the size of this publication fool you, there is so much useful information packed in this brilliantly written book! The author is genius in his method of writing while staying on subject and explaining how to improve and create a Lean Management system for your company that really works! I look forward to more books written by this great author. He clearly has the right stuff!

A fantastic book for both executives and knowledge practitioners. The first few chapters highlight why a KM program is needed and how it can enhance an organization's performance. The rest of the book provides practical and proven approaches to implementing a knowledge management program. The story of Concorde shows how a seemingly unimportant, and unrelated, action can have significant impacts down the road. As someone with over twenty years of successful KM experience, I learned a few good lessons reading this book and recommended it to several executives.

Im about half way through the book and I know it will be a great read. I love how Mr. Forsgren goes into why NASA need a cultural change in pretty good detail without skipping a beat on who/what specifically needed to change. A must have for every change management or knowledge management worker in any industry!

I finished reading the book probably within three hours. It describes the lean Knowledge Management approach of NASA in practical problem-solving. As a quality professional, I am sure the author's KM system is workable. This book forms an excellent knowledge foundation before I start other books on the same subject.

Roger did an amazing job writing this book as the narrative reflects his authenticity and pragmatism. The storytelling narrative engages the reader immediately and avoids the complexity and jargon that can be associated with building a knowledge/organizational learning culture. A very well written book with clear direction I have and still can use!

Whether you're new to Knowledge Management (KM) or experienced, this book will give you clarity as to what's important. After more than 10 years navigating dry, overly complicated, or too broad to actually apply books and conferences (frameworks, road maps, forms...) I found myself thinking that maybe I was crazy to wonder why can't KM be presented in a simple and straightforward manner? Why do I stumble around for minutes when someone asks me what KM is? Why do so many people fall off the KM train? This book let me know I wasn't crazy and focused on actually carrying out KM.Roger presents a wonderful account of how he and his team implemented a successful Lean KM program at NASA, and in a way that's easy to follow and let's you decide what you might want to apply to your own KM program. This book is the advice and stories you want from a seasoned KM professional.

Sharing my excitement about an insightful book I recently read on Lean Knowledge Management by Roger Forsgren, which delves into the fascinating world of NASA's knowledge management program. 🚀As a knowledge professional, I've always been captivated by space programs, particularly those conducted by ISRO and NASA. This book offered a unique opportunity to gain deep insights into the holistic approach of managing knowledge in one of the world's most renowned and groundbreaking organizations.What stood out to me was how the author, Roger Forsgren, skillfully unraveled the various aspects of knowledge management in NASA in a simplified manner. Instead of relying on complex jargon, the book employs a language and explanation style that is accessible and easy to understand.From historical milestones that underscore the significance of knowledge management to practical applications implemented by the author during his tenure as NASA's Chief Knowledge Officer, I felt personally connected to the journey. It truly felt like being part of the remarkable moments that shaped NASA's knowledge management practices.I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Roger Forsgren for his outstanding journey and remarkable contributions to society by sharing his invaluable experiences from NASA. The book is a testament to his expertise and dedication to advancing knowledge management practices.If you're passionate about knowledge management or fascinated by space exploration, I highly recommend diving into this enlightening read. 📚✨ #lean #management #knowledgesharing

If you look of practical experience, you have it, in that book. It’s help to focus on essential and the autor share a lot of pragmatic tips.

Being new to the discipline of Knowledge Management (KM) or having an interest in knowledge sharing might drive you to tackle KM books, podcasts and articles to gain a better understanding of how to successfully develop and action a KM strategy. This can be hard going if you delve into traditional KM textbooks that persist with an alarmingly dense vernacular centring around tacit and explicit knowledge gathering.Depending on how your mind works you might fair better by consuming instead Roger Forsgren's book ‘Lean Knowledge Management’. A brief but highly valuable playbook packed to the brim with actionable insight that confidently declares;"It worked for NASA."I have read several academic textbooks on KM that have broadened my understanding and these books have enabled me to appraise differing KM practices but 'Lean Knowledge Management' forgoes technical jargon and takes a different approach, focusing on the essence of KM and the what that makes it work.‘Lean Knowledge Management: How NASA Implemented a Practical KM Program’ differs by endeavouring to give the reader concise practical advice on delivering a successful KM framework into your own organisation.The book chronicles the story of knowledge management within NASA, a profound case study that emphasises the importance of knowledge dissemination and use and how the establishment of a lean KM framework helped shape the culture of NASA following several manned spaceflight disasters.The historical context adds substantial weight to the practices outlined within the book.Roger does an excellent job of weaving historical context and providing a compelling narrative that make the fundamental concepts of knowledge management stick. This book champions the importance of KM at its highest level (with the highest stakes!) and demonstrates the wisdom that we are only more capable than our ancestors because we have the knowledge of their successes and failures at our fingertips.If you are interested in knowledge management, or simply want an account of how elite organisations operate then I implore you to give 'Lean Knowledge Management: How NASA Implemented a Practical KM Program' a read. It has certainly given me a new perspective as well as actionable insights.

Roger’s insights on how to practically implement KM and bring it to life are the best guidance I’ve ever seen, from my decades of project and program management experience. Very other model I have seen has overcooked KM and buried it with unnecessary complexity. With great examples, good prompting questions and very good case studies this is a masterwork about how to shift from lessons captured to lessons actually learned- and the vital role Lean KM plays in building learning organisations and careers. Heartily recommended to all project, program, transformation, change and knowledge managers!

This book is just amazing! Starting with a real need to improve the way an organization is managed (Start with Why: prevent space shuttle accidents), the author explains how to create the structure to capture, transfer and share knowledge. It is a short read but every chapter is the distillation of practical keypoints to implement an improvement system thanks to collective knowledge...the way to create the dynamics of a learning organization. Spoiler: the trick is definitely not only to turn hot human knowledge into rich but cold databases: the secret sauce is about getting people to interact and turning human experience (distilled knowedge) into recipes to involve others to better cook together...A fairly unconventional approach on paper, but so obvious after reading this book!