Kent Greenes: Profiles in Knowledge

Originally published July 3, 2024

6 min readJul 4, 2024

This is the 105th article in the Profiles in Knowledge series featuring thought leaders in knowledge management. Kent Greenes helps teams, organizations and communities unleash the power of their collective learning and knowledge. He is recognized as one of the pioneers in the field of KM. His specialties are fast learning and performing, knowledge management, culture change, and transformation.

Kent worked in BP for 17 years where he initiated and directed the Virtual Teamwork Program. He joined SAIC as their CKO in 1999 and built a highly regarded KM consulting practice in the public and private sectors. He led their business transformation and introduced Six Sigma.

Kent started his own consulting practice in 2006. He leads The Conference Board’s Knowledge & Collaboration and Change & Transformation Councils of cross-industry leaders and is a Senior Fellow in their Human Capital Practice. Kent helped create the first MS Graduate program in KM at CSU Northridge and is currently on the KM Advisory board for the graduate program at Kent State University. He has been a part-time visiting instructor at the US Army War College in Carlisle and is on the editorial board of the Journal of Knowledge Management.

Kent’s experience and insights in KM have been documented in magazines and over twenty books, including: Surviving the Boomer Exodus, Beyond the Deal, Company Command: Unleashing the Power of the Army Profession; The Wealth of Knowledge: Intellectual Capital and the Twenty-first Century Organization, Performance Through Learning, Lost Knowledge, Simplicity, Learning to Fly, The Knowledge Engine and Knowledge Capital. He co-led the research working group on Knowledge Transfer in a Digital World: Using New Media Across Multiple Generations.

Kent and I have known each other for many years. We co-presented at KMWorld in 2012, he has presented three times on the SIKM Leaders Community monthly call, and we are both on the Kent State University KM Advisory Board.

Background

Education

Northwestern University — Certificate, Kellog Executive Program, 1992
University of Arizona — M.S., Geophysics, 1978–1980
Kent State University — B.S., Geoscience, 1973–1977

Experience

Greenes Consulting — Consultant, 2006 — Present
The Conference Board

Program Director Knowledge & Collaboration Council, 2006 — Present
Program Director, Change & Transformation Council, 2012 — Present
Research Program Director, 2011–2023

CSU at Northridge — KM Master’s Degree Program Adjunct Faculty, 2007–2023
SAIC — CKO, 1999–2006
British Petroleum — Head of Knowledge Management, 1982–1999

Profiles

Content

LinkedIn Posts

Briefs

Reports

Greenes Consulting

How to Guides

KM Roadmap — a comprehensive map to guide an organization through their KM journey from assessment to strategy to implementation
Guide to Peer Assists — a technique for learning and transferring knowledge before implementing a project or activity
Guide to Mini-Peer Assists — a technique for quickly sharing relevant knowledge, good practices and lessons learned in a meeting or group event
Guide to Action Reviews — a fast technique for teams to learn in the moment, ‘while doing’
Guide to Retrospects — a technique for team learning after an event, project or activity, in a useful format for sharing with others
Guide to Knowledge Communities and Communities of Practice — step-by-step approach to establishing and renewing collaborative networks
10-Step Guide to Knowledge Capture — step-by -step approach & process for capturing knowledge from an individual
Knowledge Capture 1-Pager — a simple template to document some knowledge, a good practice or lesson you’ve learned in one page!
Guide to Knowledge Elicitation Interviews — a simple guide for gathering experience, lessons and good practices from individuals

Trends in KM Blog

Success Stories

Articles

Academia.edu
Peer Assist: Learning Before Doing
The Future of the Future: Learning fast to stay relevant in a flat world
The undiscovered country with Art Murray
The Future of the Future: Building the enterprise of the future: a framework for transformation with Art Murray
The enterprise of the future with Art Murray
The Future of the Future: Future competencies to weather the storm with Greg Baker
Practical Steps for Transferring Knowledge
Agile Knowledge Management (KMAgile) with Bill Kaplan

Articles by Others

Performance through learning: interview with Kent A. Greenes by Michael Stankosky
Learning fast to stay relevant by Jack Vinson
Telling Tales at BP Amoco by Tom Stewart

Kaye Vivian: Profiles in Knowledge

Data becomes information when it’s organized; information becomes knowledge when it is placed in actionable context. Without context, there is little value. — Kent Greenes

Knowledge Management Visions

One learns and everyone knows. Individuals, groups, and organizations share, transfer and apply their collective knowledge and experience to do what’s right AND deliver extraordinary performance.

What good KM looks like:

Reflective practitioners and leaders: self-guided learners, seekers and sharers of knowledge are sought after and highly rewarded. Everyone is highly participative in knowledge networks and communities.
Work is learning and learning is work: knowledge is embedded in processes and practices, and it’s all transparent.
People are highly aware of their digital presence: it’s easy and fast to find and collaborate with relevant people and content.
Stakeholders are aligned with common intent: People, Process, and IT.

Community

SIKM Leaders Community Posts

Presentations

Knowledge Leadership- keynote speech for the 6th annual U.S. Army Knowledge Management Conference, October 20, 2010 — Kansas City, Kansas
Bridging the Gaps in Generational Knowledge Transfer — seminar for the Alberta Government Leadership in Learning Series, Edmonton, June 4, 2010
KM Challenges & Emerging Solutions for Complex Business — keynote presentation, KM Brasil, 2009