N Cs of topic X

Originally posted Nov 16, 2017

The “N Cs of topic X” is a very popular construct. I once defined 5 types of communities — Content-driven, Communicative, Collaborative, Conversational, and Comprehensive. These did not prove to be very useful.

An article I wrote included Personal Digital Brand: The 5 Cs — Content, Channels, Contacts, Communication, and Cadence. Here are some additional C words I have used when writing about leadership, knowledge management, and communities:

• Caring, Courage, Coaching
• Culture, Customization
• Calm, Creative, Curious
• Competence, Commitment, Compassion
• Converse, Correspond
• Consistency, Completeness
• Challenge Convention
• Common Concern

At the 2021 SLA Conference, I presented The Five Cs of KM in Special Libraries: Capture, Curate, Connect, Collaborate, and Create. This became the basis for my fourth book, The Five Cs of KM.

A huge number of “N Cs of Topic X” articles can be found by searching. The concept has been used so often, it’s become a cliché, but there are definitely a lot of words starting with C that are relevant to many important topics.

Jim McGee’s Collection of C Words

Jim McGee tweeted “knowledge words — create, collect, comment, collate, critique, connect, crystallize, convert — what C words are missing?”

He then blogged C-words of knowledge and asked “What would you like to add to the list?”

Verbs

• Catalog
• Categorize
• Cite
• Classify
• Coalesce
• Codify
• Collaborate
• Collate
• Collect
• Comment
• Communicate
• Conceive
• Connect
• Consult
• Constrain
• Construct
• Convert
• Coordinate
• Craft
• Create
• Critique
• Crystallize

Nouns

• Community
• Construct
• Conversation

He summarized the answers he received in Fun with constraints, knowledge, and design.

Verbs

• Calculate
• Calibrate
• Canvas
• Capture
• Catalog
• Categorize
• Censor
• Certify
• Challenge
• Change
• Characterize
• Chart
• Check
• Cite
• Claim
• Classify
• Cluster
• Circulate
• Circumscribe
• Circumvent
• Coalesce
• Coax
• Co-create
• Codify
• Collaborate
• Collate
• Collect
• Collude
• Combine
• Comment
• Communicate
• Compare
• Compile
• Compose
• Compute
• Concatenate
• Conceal
• Conceive
• Conform
• Confide
• Connect
• Connote
• Consider
• Consolidate
• Constrict
• Consult
• Constrain
• Construct
• Contribute
• Converse
• Convert
• Convey
• Coordinate
• Copy
• Count
• Craft
• Cram
• Create
• Critique
• Crystallize
• Cultivate
• Curate
• Customize

Nouns

• Capital
• Case/Case Study
• Cause
• Channel
• Characteristic
• Chart
• Collage
• Community
• Compendium
• Competence
• Component
• Concept
• Concern
• Constraint
• Construct
• Content
• Context
• Convention
• Conversation
• Culture

Adjectives

• Coherent
• Complete
• Concise
• Conditional
• Consistent
• Contingent
• Contradictory
• Convergent
• Cryptic
• Current
• Cursory

Other Articles using N Cs of Topic X

1. Dan Ranta: Collaboration at GE (slide 10) — GE Communities — Context, Collaboration, Constituents, Communication, Content
2. John Tropea: Conversations, Connections and Context
3. Larry Hawes: The Seven Cs of Social Interaction — Conversations, Continuum, Container, Community, Currency, Credibility, Connectivity
4. David Armano: The 4 Cs of Community — Content, Context, Connectivity, Continuity
5. Laird Schaub: 7 Cs of Building Community — Communication, Curiosity, Courage, Complexity, Conflict, Civility, Constructiveness
6. Geoff Livingston: The Four Cs of Social Engagement — Co-creation, Collaboration, Conversation, Crowdsourcing
7. Agnes Molnar: The Five C’s of Enterprise Search — Culture, Content, Challenges, Capabilities, Confines
8. Albert DeSimone, Jr. and Walter B. McRae: The Seven Cs of WebService Design- Comprehensiveness, Currentness , Client-Orientation, Clarity over Coolness, Courtesy over Coolness, Compatibility without Compromise, Cross-Linking
9. Anne Zelenka: The 7 Cs of software — Collective, Collaboration. Connected, Cyborg, Closed and open at the same time, Composed by a broad population, Choreographed into workflows, Cognizant
10. Lisa Zawilinski and Donald Leu: The Cs of Change — Creativity, Critical thinking, Communication, Collaboration, self-Control, Comprehension
11. William Arruda: The 10 Cs of Branding — Competent, Credible, Clear, Compelling, Consistent, Constant, Confident, Connected, Committed, Current
12. Nedra Weinreich: 15 Cs for successful social marketing — Competent, Credible, Clear, Compelling, Consistent, Constant, Confident, Connected, Committed, Current, Change-oriented, Competitive, Compatible, Caring, Culturally Appropriate
13. Mick Cope: The Seven Cs of Coaching — Client, Clarify, Create, Change, Confirm, Continue, Close
14. David Skyrme: The 3Cs of Knowledge Sharing — Culture, Co-opetition, Commitment
15. Madanmohan Rao: The 8 Cs of KM success — Connectivity, Content, Community, Culture, Capacity, Cooperation, Commerce, Capital
16. Dave Friedman: The Six Cs of Social Influence Marketing — Content, Customization, Community, Conversation, Commerce, Commitment
17. Gerry McGovern: The 6 Cs of Killer Web Content — Who Cares? Is it Compelling? Is it Clear? Is it Complete? Is it Concise? Is it Correct?
18. Tim Kounadis: Sailing the Seven Cs of Successful Corporate Portals — Contributive, Consistent, Comprehensive, Contextual, Collaborative, Customizable, Compelling
19. Juliet Rodman: The Seven Cs of Successful Change — Caring, Choice, Creativity, Courage, Comfort, Confidence, Celebration
20. Tim Davies: 7 Cs of Social Media for Participation — Context setting, Creative expression, Consultation, Conversation, Collaboration, Campaigning, Change
21. Gaurav Mishra: The 4 Cs Social Media Framework — Content, Collaboration, Community, Collective Intelligence
22. Michael Brenner: The 4 Cs of Social Media — Customers, Content, Context, Channel
23. Nedra Weinreich: The Ten Cs of Social Media — Communicate, Connect, Collaborate/Co-Create, Collect/Categorize, Collective Wisdom, Customization, Conversation, Community — these can all lead to the Big C: CHANGE
24. Palin Ningthoujam: 7 Cs of Social Media Marketing — Context, Communicate, Conversation, Content, Create, Collaborate, Contacts
25. Suze Bragg: 9 Cs for ensuring your brand’s success — Convenience, Content, Consistency, Customization, Community, Connectivity, Customer Care, Communications, Conviction
26. Terence Brake: The Six Cs of Global Collaboration — Cooperation, Convergence, Coordination, Capability, Communication, Cultural Intelligence
27. Daniel Robin: Sailing the Seven Cs of Collaborative Business Relationships — Courage, Consideration, Consistency, Clarity, Commitment, Capacity, Competence
28. Shiang-Kwei Wang and Seungyeon Han: Six Cs of motivation — Choice, Challenge , Control, Collaboration, Constructing Meaning, Consequences
29. James Coakes: The Six Cs of Teamwork — Communication, Cooperation, Collaboration Compromise, Contribution, Commitment
30. Chris Widener: The Seven C’s of Success — Caring, Character, Choice, Concentration, Confidence, Consistency, Courage
31. Michael McKinney: Lee Iacocca’s Nine Cs of Leadership — Curiosity, Creative, Communicate, Character, Courage, Conviction, Charisma, Competent, Common sense — The biggest C is Crisis
32. Paul Dunay: Seth Godin’s 7 elements of leaders — Challenge, Culture, Curiosity, Charisma, Communicate, Connect, Commit
33. Dave Pollard: KM 0.0 — Simply Enabling Trusted Context-Rich Conversations Among Communities That Care — Content and Collection; Context and Connection
34. Brian Solis: The 5 Cs of Community (image) — Content curation and creation, Conversation, Context, Continuity, Commerce
35. Darin Stewart: Gartner’s Guidance for Developing a Knowledge Management Strategy —Four foundational KM activities: Converse, Capture, Curate, Circulate
36. Michael Sequeira: The 5C KM Roadmap — Content Strategy, Critical Knowledge, Communication Strategy, Culture, Change Management Strategy
37. Bill Ives: Knowledge management as conversations — Creation, Collection, Context, Connection, Conversation, Community, Collaboration