Arthur Shelley: Profiles in Knowledge

10 min readOct 31, 2018

Originally published October 31, 2018

This is the 34th article in the Profiles in Knowledge series featuring thought leaders in knowledge management. Arthur Shelley is a capability development and knowledge strategy consultant who has held a variety of professional roles including managing international projects in Australia, Europe, Asia and the USA. He is an author, speaker, workshop facilitator at international conferences, and the former Global Knowledge Director for Cadbury Schweppes. He is founder of The Organizational Zoo Ambassadors Network (a professional peer mentoring group), creator of the RMIT University MBA mentoring program, and co-facilitator of the Melbourne KM Leadership Forum.

Arthur has presented on multiple SIKM Leaders Community calls, starting in 2009. I first met him when I visited Australia in 2010, where he was my very gracious local host. I was able to return the favor when he visited Detroit in 2015, and we were both at KMWorld 2016. We have become good friends over the years.

Background

Arthur Shelley is founder and CEO of Intelligent Answers and the Producer of Creative Melbourne. An independent capability development and knowledge strategy consultant with 30 years’ experience in international professional roles. Leading projects provided him with unique insights into what motivates people to collaborate. He works closely with clients to build individual and team capabilities through the facilitation of knowledge co-creating initiatives. His interactive workshops and programs focus on understanding behavior and relationships, to increase productivity and successfully implement change.

Arthur regularly speaks and facilitates interactive workshops at international events. He is the course coordinator for Knowledge Management in RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) University’s MBA program and was formerly the Global Knowledge Director for Cadbury Schweppes.

Arthur enjoys sharing the lessons, insights and comedy of workplaces and projects. Participants quickly identify with Organizational Zoo characters and are drawn into interacting with other participants, sharing stories about their own workplace strategies, behavior and relationships.

Arthur’s specialties are leadership, knowledge co-creation, behavioral development, team dynamics, stakeholder engagement, influence, facilitation, and inclusive event production. His objective is to stimulate learning to be more socially engaging to enhance capability development and build relationships based on co-creation and collaboration and reduce confrontation.

Education

RMIT University — PhD, Project Management, 2012
RMIT University — Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Learning and Teaching
University of Queensland — MSc, Microbiology and Biochemistry, 1985
The University of Queensland — BS, Microbiology and Biochemistry, 1981

Profiles

Content

Articles

LinkedIn Articles
RealKM
Stories stimulate KM activity in your organisation
12 Principles of Knowledge Leadership
Active Learning Innovations in Knowledge Management Education Generate Higher Quality Learning Outcomes
The intelligent social change journey: Moving into the information field of consciousness with Alex Bennet, David Bennet, Theresa Bullard, and John Lewis
The Behavioural DNA of Creativity: Insights from Creative Bangkok Metaphor Interaction — pages 29–31

Articles by Others

Interview with Ana Neves
Stuart French and Victor Perton chat about Australian Leadership
Interview with Victor Perton on Australian Leadership: “pragmatic resilience with a dash of larrikinism”
How Technology Will Affect the Future of Knowledge Management by Lauren Trees — Arthur Shelley, founder and CEO at Intelligent Answers, added to this conversation: “Knowledge and intellectual property are like cash — they need to flow to create value. This requires trusted relationships, a willingness to constructively engage, and preparedness to share the value created.” All of these aspects are “difficult things to define in a legal contract,” he added.
Weaving Networks in Melbourne by Nancy White

Communities

Cited and Quoted in My Blog

1. Wiki Conversation Visualised

2. What Good KM Looks Like

On February 26, 2008 I presented on a member audio conference for Pure Insight on Knowledge management systems: What makes a successful system? Arthur also presented.

I asked Arthur if I could quote from his presentation, and he graciously agreed. Here are some of his key points.

Gradual change focused on people & behaviors

Knowledge Management is NOT Rocket Surgery
Have a clear vision aligned with business strategy
Communicate the vision and strategy widely
Find the pockets of excellence and leverage them
Generate some benefits to demonstrate why change is positive
Change people’s habits by demonstrating collaboration is better
Continue to grow a foundation aligned with business priorities, goals and objectives
Embed knowledge principles into everyday business activities
Constantly support ownership in the business

What does good KM look like?

People naturally collaborate and have extensive global networks
Leaders support their teams’ collaboration activities across business and with external parties
There is a high level of adaptation and adoption of other’s ideas
Sharing behavior is acknowledged and rewarded
Tools enable learning before, during and after activities and events
Networks and communities are self-sustaining and refresh knowledge as they complete projects and rotate leader and administrative roles
Community activities are driven by business needs and deliver benefits, both tangible and intangible
Knowledge behaviors are embedded into everyday business processes
Intellectual property is defined and made available for others to use
Learnings from change programs are captured and reused in, or adapted for, related future projects
Information and knowledge is constantly refreshed and easily accessed by appropriate parties

Key points for success

Focus on the people, bring them together, get them comfortable with each other and match behaviors
Create opportunities for collaboration on activities that deliver value and make their jobs easier
Show how the knowledge management activities align with business priorities and generate benefits
Build an identity around your knowledge program to get people to feel part of it
Communicate widely and often, especially success stories
Develop Knowledge Platforms and capabilities in background (Networks, Behaviors, Processes, Tools and Infrastructure)
Find senior sponsors and lead facilitators who can transfer ownership and build a self-supporting network
Introduce fun and social aspects to your teams

3. 50 Categories for Assessing Organizational Culture

The Organizational Zoo

A is for Ant
B is for Bee
C is for Chameleon
D is for Dog
E is for Eagle
F is for Feline
G is for Gibbon
H is for Hyena
I is for Insect
J is for Jackal
K is for Kid
L is for Lion
M is for Mouse
N is for Nematode
O is for Owl
P is for Piranha
Q is for Quercus robur
R is for Rattlesnake
S is for Sloth
T is for Triceratops
U is for Unicorn
V is for Vulture
W is for Whale
X is for X-Breed
Y is for Yak
Z is for Zoo

4. How to Be a Great Community Manager

In an actKM discussion on the role of community managers summarized by Arthur Shelley, the following attributes were supplied by the participants:

Community manager key responsibilities:

Lead the community, engage membership and other stakeholders
Organize community interactions and activities on regular basis
Ensure the purpose of the community remains aligned with personal aspirations of the members as well as business goals
Create an identity for the community to which people want to belong
Generate an atmosphere of fun to keep the interactions vibrant
Network with potential new community members to promote community benefits
Collate feedback from members and facilitate responses to source of feedback
Ensure collaboration activities are beneficial to the community members
Engage members and generate a sense of commitment to community activities
Network with HR and Communications personnel, advise them of interest stories
Communicate community benefits and successes to wider stakeholder groups
Establish (with members) agreed processes for community activities and events
Establish accountabilities and timeframes for agreed projects, tasks and activities
Identify objectives, roles and responsibilities for community members
Designate resources requirements and determine any funding arrangements
Anticipate risks and explore impacts non-delivery of desired outcomes
Establish a monitoring and review process
Liaise with the Content Manager to discuss layout and formats of content on the portal
Screen submitted content for appropriateness and relevance
Encourage members to load useful content to the relevant portal pages

5. Getting a PhD in Knowledge Management, and 10 possible research topics

It is good to see you getting a variety of great advice from some wonderful people. One of the basic essences of KM is to ask good questions of experienced people.

I advise the best way to approach a PhD is to start doing some research and find something that you are deeply interested in researching further. It will become apparent during your exploration who the experts are in the area of research you are most interested in and you should then approach the relevant experts seeking to study with them (demonstrating your interest in their work and what you question you would like to research). The research question you seek to explore needs to be your own and something you have a passion for as it will occupy 3–4 years of your life. If you are not deeply interested in it, you will struggle to keep it as a high priority (which it needs to be for good research and your interest/enjoyment of the learning).

Typically, here is Australia a PhD candidate needs to prepare a detailed research proposal in order to be accepted to enroll in a PhD. This investment in prework is not lost as it is all able to be included. The Universities do this to ensure the candidate is serious about the endeavor and also to get some idea about the quality of the student for entry purposes.

Different universities (and countries) have very different rules about PhD study. In some countries it is very expensive to complete a PhD (especially of you are not a citizen of that country) and in other countries it is free for citizens. In Germany one can study for free (perhaps even get an allowance to do so), but in Australia it would cost a lot unless you had a sponsor or a scholarship.

Presentations

1. SlideShare

2. KM Singapore

3. KMWorld

4. SIKM Leaders Community

February 2009 Impacts of behavior on knowledge transfer and project outcomes
March 2010 Making a Difference: Removing barriers to knowledge flows — Slides
July 2015 KNOWledge SUCCESSion — Slides
August 2016 Knowledge CoCreation — Metaphoric visualization to stimulate shared perspectives — Slides
December 2020 Behavioral DNA of Collaborative Leadership — Slides
November 2022 Becoming Adaptable — Slides

Videos

1. Intelligent Answers

2. ZooTube

3. YouTube

NSW KM Forum: The Future of KM Panel Discussion

Mini Interview with David Gurteen

4. Vimeo — iKMS Evening Talk: Organizational Zoo

Part 1

Part 2

Books

1. Becoming Adaptable: Creative facilitation to develop yourself and transform cultures

2. KNOWledge SUCCESSion: Sustained Performance and Capability Growth Through Strategic Knowledge Projects

3. The Organizational Zoo: A Survival Guide to Work Place Behavior

4. Being a Successful Knowledge Leader: What Knowledge Practitioners Need to Know to Make a Difference

5. Knowledge Management Matters: Words of Wisdom from Leading Practitioners edited by John Girard and JoAnn Girard — Chapter 10: Leading Knowledge Flows and Cocreation for Sustained Future Outcomes