Knowledge Management Thought Leader 10: Debra Amidon

Originally posted 02-Jun-22

The late Debra Amidon was the Founder and Chief Strategist of Entovation International, Ltd., a global innovation research and consulting network.

Known among her peers as a management pioneer, philosopher, architect, and visionary, she captured the imagination of academic, government and industrial leaders around the globe. With her seminal conference in 1987 on “Managing the Knowledge Assets into the 21st Century,” she set in motion what evolved into an expansive community of practice of theorists and practitioners from diverse functions, sectors, industries, and geographies.

Debra held degrees from Boston University, Columbia University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow. Having served as college administrator, government official, and corporate executive, Debra was a global expert on collaborative advantage providing an innovation foundation for economic sustainability. In 2015, she was awarded an Honorary PhD from Bangkok University in Thailand.

Debra was Associate Director of External Research at Digital Equipment Corporation from 1981 to 1993. I didn’t know her when we both worked there, but I later interacted with her during AOK Star Series Dialogues. Debra passed away on August 13, 2016.

Profiles

1. Facebook
2. LinkedIn
3. Biographical Sketch
4. Obituary
5. Profiles in Knowledge

Presentations

1. Vision of Knowledge
2. A Global Innovation Frontier

Recordings

1. The EMC Innovation Network
2. ICT and Innovation

Conversations

1. AOK: Preparing for Conversations with Debra M. Amidon

• Conversations with Debra M. Amidon: Architecting Success

2. AOK: Preparing for Conversations with Bryan Davis and Debra Amidon

• Summary: Conversations with Bryan Davis and Debra Amidon
• Archive: Conversations with Bryan Davis and Debra Amidon

Books

1. Innovation Strategy for the Knowledge Economy: The Ken Awakening
2. The Innovation SuperHighway: Harnessing Intellectual Capital for Collaborative Advantage

Table of Contents

Part I The Innovation Frontier

• Chapter 1 A Global Imperative for Sustainability — The Knowledge Why
• Chapter 2 The Knowledge Value Proposition — The Knowledge What
• Chapter 3 From Planning to Innovation Strategy — The Knowledge How

Part II Architecting a Future

• Chapter 4 Knowledge Performance Economics
• Chapter 5 Knowledge Structures
• Chapter 6 Knowledge Workers
• Chapter 7 Knowledge Processes
• Chapter 8 Knowledge-Processing Technology

Part III The Globe as a Network

• Chapter 9 Entovation®: A Case Story
• Chapter 10 Global Momentum of Knowledge Strategy
• Chapter 11 Trends of Innovation Strategy

Part IV Innovation Leadership in Practice

• Chapter 12 Modern Knowledge Leadership: the 7Cs
• Chapter 13 Exemplar Ken Practitioners
• Chapter 14 Evolving Innovation Infrastructures

Part V The Millennium Vision

• Chapter 15 The Knowledge-Millennium Generation
• Chapter 16 Blueprint for Twenty-First Century Innovation
• Chapter 17 Creating the World Trade of Ideas

Appendices

• Appendix A: Knowledge Innovation®
• Appendix B: Sample Definitions of Innovation
• Appendix C: Calibrating the Innovation Strategy
• Appendix D: The Momentum of Knowledge
• Appendix E: Knowledge Leaders and Laggards

Articles

1. Visualizing Action: A Recipe for Boston Innovation Success with Oliver Schwabe
2. Get in the zone with Bryan Elliot Davis

7 Cs of Knowledge Leadership: Innovating our Future with Doug Macnamara

1. Knowledge Leadership is a Matter of Context. Leaders will understand the nature of complex context — how to make sense of it and how to convey it (with magnetic vision) to others.
2. Knowledge Leadership is a Matter of Competence. Leaders will know that competencies are based in experience and are more dynamic than static attributes.
3. Knowledge Leadership is a Matter of Culture. Leaders will know the relationship between the motivation (Psychology) of an individual and the culture (Sociology) of an organization. They will value heritage (Anthropology) and know that more than 2% of manager time need be dedicated to visioning — the lifeblood of a future generation business.
4. Knowledge Leadership is a Matter of Communities. Leaders will understand the value of the collective — the teams and communities within whom work gets done and visions are realized.
5. Knowledge Leadership is a Matter of Conversations and Common Language. Leaders will know how to evolve a common language and that there is more power in the dialogue than what gets documented in a particular planning process.
6. Knowledge Leadership is a Matter of Communications. Leaders will value the communications process — both technical and human — but not as much for what gets conveyed as what might be learned.
7. Knowledge Leadership is a Matter of Coaching. Leaders will coach and be coached by people of similar values and vision. Trust will be placed in those able to care more about leveraging the competencies of one another.