People-focused knowledge management

Leisurely &
Goals are often fuzzy, unclear, & qualitative if
Mostly performed alone
Unfocused
explicit or may be tacit or implicit in general
Unhurried & informal mental exploration
Exploration
situations
May disregard constraints & uncertainties, be
Constraints are not explicit
internally inconsistent, with approaches that
Performance criteria are not explicit
partially satisfy criteria & objectives. Uses
Options, when generated & considered, are not
idealistic, pragmatic, automatic knowledge
made clear or remembered
Relies extensively on associations & less on crisp
Options may be internally inconsistent
or qualitative explicit reasoning
Crisis Problem-
Sharp focus on what creates problem
Performed alone or in groups — often with
Solving
Satisfactory solutions are sufficient
considerable urgency
Situation may be constrained by Time, Resources,
Approach is often “what comes naturally” rather
Information, & Knowledge
than selected to match problem
Goal is to alleviate crisis
Uses pragmatic & automatic knowledge
Routine Problem-
Part of all regular knowledge work & needed to
Mostly performed alone
Solving
complete all normal tasks
Often performed to analyze
Frequently overlooked due to its ubiquity
Relies on pragmatic & automatic knowledge & 
Well understood by participant(s)
on known routine cases, less on scripts

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Systematic
Goal is typically to develop approach to a
Performed alone or in groups — often with
Problem-
challenge or produce a product
considerable reflection & deliberation
Solving
Group work may lead to disagreements due to
Often performed to generate alternatives
diverse understanding
Relies on idealistic, systematic, pragmatic & 
Situations are often only partially understood by
some automatic knowledge
problem solver(s)
Decision-Making
Goal is to produce a change or preserve status quo
Performed alone or in groups with varying 
Focus is on finding acceptable way to handle the
degrees of reflection & deliberation
situation & implementing it
Often simplifies rather than vigilant
Uses systematic & pragmatic knowledge