Personal knowledge mastery (PKM) is a set of processes, individually constructed, to help each of us make sense of our world and work more effectively. PKM keeps us afloat in a sea of information — guided by professional communities and buoyed by social networks.
“Seek > Sense > Share are three elements at the core of Harold Jarche’s Personal Knowledge Mastery (PKM) Framework. With PKM, he shaped one of the most persuasive approaches to personal and professional development, combining natural ways of learning with an approach to sensemaking and contributing to a larger collective.” —GIZ.DE
PKM is a framework of practical methods to connect work and learning in the digital age. Perpetual beta is our new normal so we need to connect our social networks, communities of practice, and our work teams. We have to seek to understand our environment, seek & make sense of new ideas, make sense of practical experience, and share new practices — continuously.
“The more I am out there chatting to clients, the more I realise that your PKM approach is the number one critical skill set. Any way I look at it, all roads seem to end there. It is the foundation. That’s why I thought this is where they need to start – and not just the employees – everyone including the managers.” —Helen Blunden, AU
PKM is the number one skill set for each of us to make sense of our world, work more effectively, and contribute to society. The PKM framework — Seek > Sense > Share — helps professionals become knowledge catalysts.
Today, the best leaders are constant learners.
“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”
—Ernest Hemingway (1962) The Wild Years
Developing Mastery
Public online workshops are scheduled throughout the year:
Custom workshops for organizations:
PKM Explained
- HBR: The Best Leaders are Constant Learners (short executive summary)
- The Seek > Sense > Share Framework (summary magazine article)
- PKMastery (30 minute video of presentation at Wits Business School, ZA)
- Working Smarter with PKM Field Guide (10 page PDF)
- Working Smarter with PKM (3 x 3 minute videos with transcripts)
- Chapter 7 (PKM) (23 page PDF) excerpt from Perpetual Beta 2020
PKM in Practice
- Implementing the PKM framework in a global organization — Working Smarter @ Citi
- PKM for a Corporate Audience PDF (Domino’s Pizza)
- PKM in Health Care PDF (UK National Health Service)
- PKM in Health Care (video)
- PKM in LSL (Listening & Spoken Language)
- PKM in City-City Peer Learning PDF (pp. 44-47)
“A model of curation for the digital era that is being used in health and care is Harold Jarche’s ‘Personal Knowledge Mastery’ (PKM). This is about individuals making the best use of their networks and other sources of knowledge so that they can keep up to date with the most effective thinking in their area and practice new ways of doing things. Leaders who take responsibility for their own effectiveness through PKM create leverage and value for their organisations. The underpinning framework for curation within PKM is ‘seek, sense, share’. ‘Seeking’ is about finding things out and keeping up to date; pulling’ information, but also having it ‘pushed’ to us by trusted sources. ‘Sensing’ is about making sense and meaning of information, reflecting and putting into practice what we have learned and plugging information into our own mental models and turning it into knowledge. ‘Sharing’ is about connecting and collaborating; sharing complex knowledge with our own work teams, testing new ideas with our own networks and increasing connections through social networks.” —UK National Health Service White Paper: The new era of thinking and practice in change and transformation
“Another way in which the L&D function can create value is by encouraging people to take charge of their own Personal Knowledge Mastery and applying the Seek-Sense-Share framework of Harold Jarche. As more knowledge and content becomes open and accessible to all, and as we all face more complex situations and challenges, people need to develop their own capacity to find what they need when they need it (Seek). People also need to extract meaning from content and experiences they are exposed to, as well (Sense). And we all need to be able to help partners learn faster by uncovering and sharing knowledge, in meaningful contexts (Share). This is important work that we all need to create the space and tools for. The L&D function can help by reminding people how we learn, how we build networks, and by creating conditions for collaborative learning and working.” —Anca Iordache, Citi
PKM in Higher Education
My PKM seek > sense > share framework has been used and referenced in these academic programs:
- Australia, University of Southern Queensland, Networked and Global Learning Course
- Canada, University of Ottawa, Knowledge Management Course, MA Programme
- Finland, Tampere University of Technology
- Ireland, University of Limerick, Kemmy Business School
- USA, Creighton University, Interdisciplinary Doctorate Program
- USA, University of Pennsylvania, Executive Doctoral Program
- USA, Technological Systems Approaches to Leadership at Concordia University, Irvine
- USA, Master’s Program in Learning & Organizational Change at Northwestern University
- Wales, Bangor University Psychology Department
PKM in the Workplace
Organizations that have adopted the PKM framework:
- ING Bank
- Citigroup
- Domino’s Pizza
- Carlsberg Group
- Hearing First LLC
- MasterCard Foundation
- National Health Service, England
- United Cities & Local Governments
- University of Nebraska Extension Network
- eOppiva — Digital Learning Platform of the Finnish Government
Contact Harold for more information.
Dear Harold
Your post are very clear, interesting. Thanks a lot.
My English level isn’t (for now) enough to put all my reflections as a proper comment.
But, about the term “personal knowledge management”
my particular discomfort is with the word “management”. I don’t think about knowledge as an object that I can “mange”, I think about knowledge as a complex process and, in some way, I can’t “manage”. I think that knowledge is always an emergence situation and some times I become surprise for my own thinks or knowledge or ideas. Knowledge is a creative process, no matter the results of what we can do with our knowledge.
Well, I don`t pretende define a a final idea of the term, but I suggest (i put in this common bag of ideas) something like personal knowledge process, or composing, or rebuilding… (because, like you sed knowledge is a perpetual beta status).
I feel some kind of reject about de word “manage”, it means some sense of power or control, but life (ourselves includes) change an evolve all the time, even our knowledge.
Thanks a lot again for your generosity and reflections. They help me a lot!
suggestions
I agree that knowledge cannot be managed, per se, which is why I use the term “networked learning” in conjunction with it. Also, PKM is a term used by many others. So even if the term is flawed, it is still useful.
I hadn’t thought about it. Without doubt “network learning” is better. I now realize that this term refers to the systemic pattern of a network, which is the condition for learning.
Thanks for your answer!
I am a very organized person when it comes to my personal paperwork. I keep everything that I feel is important, but I have been having trouble getting used to using and relying on a computer for everything. I am use to the old ways of making copies of things that I need to keep and storing them in a filing cabinet. I also keep all of my receipts. I can’t get use to storing files on my computer. I like to have physical copies that I can get my hands on when I need them. I like being able to go to my filing cabinet and find exactly what it is that I am looking for and have it in my hands at my disposal. Now a days, I have to worry so much about computer hackers that I feel the more personal information I store on my computer the more vulnerable I become to some type of theft.
Hi Harold, I have been reading your blogs with enormous interest and have learned so much. I particularly resonate with Seek, Sense, Share.
I realise after reading your blog (for the 2nd, 3rd time) that I’ve been developing my own personal knowledge management system and you, Jane Hart and Jane Bozarth have been central to my learning over the past few months.
Thank you.
Annie
Dear Harold,
Thanks for the blog post and having PKM is very essential as we move towards the Knowledge Economy.
I personal having using delicious for social bookmarking, tweet times etc as part of my routine during the day when I log into the internet for my own informal learning.
My feel is that PKM is not just important as a personal level but also for organization as well from the benefits you highlighted above. Is this concept being practice by any organization? Also, how would one kind of “sell” this to organization.
Hi Harold
I have been following your blog, with great interest and like Anne, the concept of Seek, Sense, Share totally resonates with me. I realise that I do this now, although your post has highlighted to me that I need to “manage” my knowledge better. For example, I do subscribe to Delicious, and when I remember, I bookmark sites that I find informative, but all too often I waste time trying to find things online. I need to be more disciplned in this area.
I also want to focus more on the “Sense”. About three or four months ago I started blogging and writing articles. Having gained some confidence now, I am ready to start writing about things that are important to me. Your post has helped me to get a better focus on this.
Michelle
Very nicely put together Harold – many thanks for seeking, sensing and sharing it.
Chris
I have been thinking about the issues you outline in this blog post since summer as I embarked upon a new academic year. Stumbling upon this blog and particular post has helped me to a) put a label to what I’ve been grappling with b) realize that I can not only advocate this among my colleagues, but also to apply the Seek Sense Share model in the various classes that I teach.
This model, I think, is critical to students in 21st-century classrooms. It is something that I want so much to implement at my college.
Hi Harold,
I really like the simplification about PKM with just that three words Seek, Sense and Share. I definitely agree that knowledge is very difficult to manage. To me, the term ‘management’ in PKM is actually a challenge for the knowledge itself. I would like to know has your research covers PKM with school teachers?
Warm regards,
Hasanah
I do not do much work with teachers in particular, though I am sure that many parts of PKM are applicable. Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach’s book, The Connected Educator, deals specifically with teachers though.
Thank you for the reply and input about the book.
Hi, Mr. Jarche. I do KM for the Department of Defense and I’m wondering, can one make a living doing PKM to individuals and/or groups and how is this possible? Any in site would be appreciative. Thank you and i hope to hear from you soon.
I think of PKM as a work/life skill for everyone, so I would say that it’s part of making a living. As for the “PKM business”, I earn some revenue from conducting PKM workshops and facilitating our community – http://seek-sense-share.com/ – but it is by no means enough to live on. It has also taken me almost 9 years of discussing PKM on this blog and practicing it to get here: http://jarche.com/2004/05/old141/
Hello Harold,
So interesting!,
I readed on: http://tom.johnandrewrankin.com/2012/06/personal-knowledge-management-for-the-workplace-professional/ about “ten things”, is that part of PKM metodology?.
Besides, here in your blog can I find all the information about PKM research?.
Thank you,
Ignacio Jaramillo. Bogotá, Colombia.?
Tom was a participant in one of my workshops and his post was in response to one of our exercises.
Yes, this is my landing page for PKM.
Hi. Would you consider the Motor Traders Association (MTA) or other Industry groups as PKMs, given that I/we work with and in the Auto and heavy equipment industry.
We, fellow teachers in the TAFE sector, keep in contact with each other on regular basis, although not ever day.
Regards
Chris Richardson
They sound more like a Community of Practice. Some of them may be active in some form of PKM though.