metaphors, biases & learning partnerships
DESCRIPTION
From a talk to the Workshop on Integrated Strategy on Healthy Living and Chronic Diseases, Ottawa, February 2011.Knowledge exchange is more than just a compilation or warehousing of data or information. To generate new knowledge we must infuse data with new meaning. We do this not in an additive way from single actions and data-bits, but by creating a story about the overall pattern embedded in events and data and then using that story to understand more clearly the events and data that gave rise to it.TRANSCRIPT
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Taking the Lead: Applying New Strategies Taking the Lead: Applying New Strategies for Knowledge Exchange & Uptakefor Knowledge Exchange & Uptake
PHAC ISHLCD Workshop
February 8-9, 2011
Metaphors, Biases & Learning Partnerships
10 Ways to Promote Effective Knowledge Mobilization
Christopher Wilson
Research Fellow
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Knowledge ExchangeKnowledge Exchange• Parts & the Whole
– We do not build new knowledge in an additive way from single actions & data-bits, but by forming ideas about the overall patterns embedded in events & data and then using these patterns to understand more clearly the events & data that gave rise to them
• Metaphors & Re-framing– The mobilization of knowledge sufficient to alter
organizational behaviours and sector practices rests on conversational processes involving many stakeholders that simultaneously re-shape practice norms together with cultural values and assumptions.
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Ca Di Ob CV L MH
Towards a Knowledge NetworkTowards a Knowledge Network
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Metaphors, assumptions Metaphors, assumptions & cultural paradigms& cultural paradigms
• “Science works mainly by metaphor” - Brian Arthur, Santa Fe Institute, 1992
• “We [do] not perceive a signal from the outside world unless it is relevant to an option for the future that we have already worked out in our imaginations” - Arie de Geus, formerly Royal Dutch Shell, 2002
• Resolving health & social policies has “more to do with the ways in which we frame the purposes to be achieved than with the selection of optimal means for achieving them” - Donald Schön, 1993
• The framing of problems & solutions depends upon the metaphors and stories in good currency among problem solvers.
– Can the KE move from warehousing data to exercises of re-framing & the creation of meta-frames?
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To Change the Possibility, To Change the Possibility, Change the MetaphorChange the Metaphor
• Research shows that by changing the frame we use, we inevitably change the collective decisions and actions that follow from it
• What would prompt us to change our internal narrative?
• Change evolves thru a process of meaning making
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Blind Men & the ElephantBlind Men & the Elephant
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Decision Making Under Decision Making Under UncertaintyUncertainty
• Good decisions require asking the right questions, not just giving plausible answers.– Just like the blind men the ‘experts’ need to learn together
• Social biases (authority bias) such as status and power differences can prevent us from considering and evaluating the quality of the data.– We are not solely objective in our treatment of data
• Individual cognitive biases can prevent us from seeking or recognizing critical data.– Risk evaluation bias – Confirmation bias– Neglect of probability
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Other Learning BiasesOther Learning Biases• Availability bias
• Framing bias
• Anchoring and adjustment bias
• Hindsight bias
• Bandwagon bias
• Contrast bias
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Knowledge Exchange, Innovation Knowledge Exchange, Innovation & Cultural Adaptation& Cultural Adaptation
Old View
Nasty mould destroys bacterial cultures
Innovation
Mould kills bacteria
Single individual / Organization
Changed Paradigm
Bacterial infections easily
dealt with by antibiotics
Culture / Collective Understanding
Dialogue
Medical therapies, treatment
regimens and contra-indications
for antibiotics
Private / Public Knowledge Institutions
Affirmation
Mould-derived antibiotics effective
in killing many forms of bacteria in
many situations
Multiple individuals / Sector Organizations
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Knowledge Exchange Knowledge Exchange & Dissemination of Cultural Norms& Dissemination of Cultural Norms
Enrich
Confirms & extends cultural
assumption
Assimilation
Eg. Pathways to Education
Single individual / Organization
Existing Paradigm
Social determinants of
health
Culture / Collective Understanding
Contextualize
What determinants, how
do they affect health outcomes, when under what
conditions?
Private / Public Knowledge Institutions
Diffusion
SDH adopted by community heath practitioners as
means of transforming health
outcomes
Multiple individuals / Organizations
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3 Targets for KE Intervention3 Targets for KE Intervention
1. Where individuals interact with networks and associations
– CoP’s, social media, networking events, classrooms & cafeterias & other informal settings
2. Where networks and associations interact with knowledge institutions
– Conferences, workshops, R&D, educational programs, professional development
3. Where knowledge institutions interact with culture– Media, political discourse, film and fine art, literature
• Each intervention strategy will differ but be directed towards making co-creators & learning partners
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5 Questions for Online KE5 Questions for Online KE1. What are the various needs, resources, and
abilities of the people who will be directly served by the system?
• What are the needs of the information providers?
• How will the system be used?• How can the system be shaped by users
(suppliers & consumers) to encourage ownership & relevance?
• How can the system encourage reframing exercises among users?
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Two Fundamental Data TypesTwo Fundamental Data Types
• Subject-matter information – including primary data, research papers, news, events, policy
documents, and other related content such as images, video clips, web links, etc..
• Collaboration-support information – including partnership specific information such as records of
previous discussions; MOUs and agreements (especially contribution agreements); joint business plans; contributor rules and behaviour policies; privacy policies; decision making rules; schedules for joint work; joint reports and media announcements; overhead data, such as session transcripts and minutes (audio, video & print); as well as contact information for the various partners.
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10 Ways to Promote Effective 10 Ways to Promote Effective Knowledge MobilizationKnowledge Mobilization
1. Use active and engaging practices to promote user ownership and contribution
2. Provide regular interaction between stakeholders 3. Establish the principles by which partners agree to
work together 4. Construct different strategies for formal and tacit
knowledge. 5. Use effective ‘champions’ 6. Keep participation in the CoP open, inclusive, and
responsive
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10 Ways to Promote Effective 10 Ways to Promote Effective Knowledge MobilizationKnowledge Mobilization
7.Website design, content collection and dissemination should generate a sense of belonging:– Mechanisms for measuring progress should be identified at
the outset and built-into the development processes of the website (eg. www.couchsurfing.org);
– Design the system with support for ongoing learning in mind;
8.Pay attention to partner evolution9.Create space for partner awareness10.Provide written or oral summaries of research
for practitioners
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Thank youThank you
Christopher Wilson
Research Fellow
Centre on Governance
University of Ottawa
Tel: 613-355-6505
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Additional Resources: Computer Additional Resources: Computer Supported Cooperative WorkSupported Cooperative Work
• The focus of CSCW is twofold – – practices that allow partner coordination, and – the inter-organizational actions that permit
collaborative learning to be absorbed by individual organizations so that joint work can be accomplished
• Computer Supported Cooperative Work: Concepts & Tools, Tom Gross
• Journal of Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) – special healthcare edition
• Building Sustainable Community Information Systems