Summary:

A nine-month challenge: Transform The Document Company Xerox business model to gain an intimate knowledge of how to best provide a competitive advantage to its customers. Xerox named its first chief learning officer to lead the metamorphosis of culture, knowledge and skills and to drive industry-and-solutions education as strategic initiative. The organization espouses that learning and work are inseparable.

• The Learning.Net.Work team assembled to define the generic roles of the field organization, the competencies needed and corresponding learning plan to foster the transition. This team collected benchmark data such as (a) high-level summary of the firm’s business model (b) engagement model and resources (c) career path by functional discipline (d) philosophy on "external hire" versus "internally groom" talent. An expert was assigned as a coach of the Learning.Net.Work team. This person would be responsible for representing the industry requirements and providing industry content during development.

 
• Teammates of Learning Net.Work must depend upon one another and trust one another’s expertise. In addition they have to understand how the individual contributions enhance the whole team’s value. Flexibility and fluidity of the learning plan were a must. Corporate sponsorship was critical to the resolution of issues and guarantee the success of the mission.

 
• People in the workplace tend to form a community of practice to collectively address customers’ needs using best practices and a common language. And Xerox challenge is to guide, influence, and nurture the community to deliver its business goals while promoting creativity, flexibility and fluidity within the community. The learning team must recognize and address the way people work.

 
• The learning team along with the target population needs to help co-design the knowledge-sharing infrastructure to ensure that use of the tools, such as software that naturally incorporates into the work practice. Learning can occur using one of the knowledge-sharing tools.

 
• People Development was a critical component to overall Xerox initiative. A person’s professionalism is determined by his or her competency. Competency includes knowledge, skills and attributes. Attributes can be selected during the sourcing process. While skills and knowledge can either be a prerequisite to obtaining a position or acquired while in a position. The Learning Net.Work team identified three areas that presented new challenges within people development. They had to presume that generic roles would be required to determine which new content areas were needed by each role. Initially, the generic roles focused on the industry consultant, project manager, the industry field general and the corporate focus executives. New knowledge, skills and process content were identified for each generic role (see table on page 2).

 
• The learning team to emphasize independent learning. In doing so, people are empowered to gather what they need, when they need it. This timeliness promotes innovative thinking at the time of need. Two key ingredients to create such an environment include subject matter experts and knowledge sharing infrastructure and support from IT. The Learning Net.Work team searched for learning offerings that promoted the integration of IT and work practice.

 
• The "Xerox Brand" presented a new concept for the field. The challenge was how to present a brand to clients not a product. To succeed in doing that, it was necessary to understand how to put value-added services-even intangibles-in the context of an industry and the specific client’s need. The brand concept presented two challenges. First, requirements had to be documented such that the brand "content" could be communicated to the target audience. Second, Xerox found historically that the traditional product platform sales-person was uncomfortable selling intangibles. So a field population with unique industry-and-solutions competencies was identified, with a career path linkage to the existing positions.

 
• Xerox gained a competitive advantage by implementing a professional project management program. The corporation asked Learning Net.Work to build a project management community of practice for the industry-and-solutions business. Prior to the Learning Net.Work’s involvement, a few project managers existed, but they operated as islands, not knowing they had internal colleagues with whom they could network. Management’s understanding of project management mirrored its prior experiences, so that coaching and review of projects were not standardized or systematic. The following are critical success factors for building the community as identified by Learning Net.Work: (a) developing and incorporating a project management approach and process into the field governance process (b) ensuring the evergreen nature of the project management approach and tool set (c) utilizing industry learning resources to provide project manager skill training (d) creating both informal and formal mentoring (e) gaining sponsorship from the senior leadership teams (f) establishing a program office to provide infrastructure support to the community practice.

 
• Learning Net.Work conducted extensive benchmark studies with the assistance of a third-party consultant. The results were reported in a strategy document. This document educated the reader on the profession and defined common terms.

 
• Learning Net.Work needs to develop a skills assessment model to provide a baseline of both project managers (practitioners) and field managers (mentors and coaches). Plus, project managers were asked to develop an individual development action plan (DAP) with their respective manager to personalize the professional development.

 
• Ultimately Learning Net.Work plans to co-develop, with the community, an internal corporate-credentialing program that verifies a professional understanding and utilization of the Xerox methodology. Also they established a Project Manager Program office to be a beacon for the community. It plans to conduct a series of forums and workshops to facilitate networking, mentoring, knowledge sharing and work practice problem solving.

Dede Bonner. “The Knowledge Management Challenge: New Roles and Responsibilities for Chief Knowledge Officers and Chief Learning Officers.” Phillips and Dede Bonner (editors). In Action: Leading Knowledge Management and Learning. American Society for Training and Development, 2000.  pp. 3-19.

Adam Gersting, Bill Ives and Cindy Gordon.  “A Human Performance Approach to Knowledge Management: Andersen Consulting”. in: Jack J. Phillips and Dede Bonner (editors). In Action: Leading Knowledge Management and Learning. American Society for Training and Development, 2000.  pp. 23-38.

Nick Milton.  “Managing Knowledge in an Oil Exploration Office”. in: Jack J. Phillips and Dede Bonner (editors). In Action: Leading Knowledge Management and Learning. American Society for Training and Development, 2000.  pp. 39-53.

Verna J. Willis and Gary L. May. “Strategy and the Chief Learning Officer”. in: Jack J. Phillips and Dede Bonner (editors). In Action: Leading Knowledge Management and Learning. American Society for Training and Development, 2000.  pp. 55-70.

Michael H. Mitchell and Nick Bontis. “Aligning Human Capital with Business Strategy”. in: Jack J. Phillips and Dede Bonner (editors). In Action: Leading Knowledge Management and Learning. American Society for Training and Development, 2000.  pp. 73-86.

Case Study in Online Knowledge Exchange Community: Entovation International Ltd. (Debra M. Amidon. “Leading through Strategic Conversations”. in: Jack J. Phillips and Dede Bonner, editors. In Action: Leading Knowledge Management and Learning. American Society for Training and Development, 2000.  pp. 101-114.

Gary Jusela and Nick Nissley. “Action Learning and Organizational Design”. in: Jack J. Phillips and Dede Bonner (editors). In Action: Leading Knowledge Management and Learning. American Society for Training and Development, 2000.  pp. 133-145.

Lynne Hambleton.  “Supporting a Metamorphosis through Communities of Practice”. in: Jack J. Phillips and Dede Bonner (editors). In Action: Leading Knowledge Management and Learning. American Society for Training and Development, 2000.  pp. 147-156.

Michael Horst adn Theresa Snavely. “Assuming the Role of CLO in a Hospital Setting”. In: Jack J. Phillips and Dede Bonner (editors). In Action: Leading Knowledge Management and Learning. American Society for Training and Development, 2000.  pp. 189-203.

Ruth Ash and Maurice Persall: The School Principal as Chief Learning Officer: Seven Exemplary Schools” in: Jack J. Phillips and Dede Bonner (editors). In Action: Leading Knowledge Management and Learning. American Society for Training and Development, 2000.  pp. 205- 220.

Robin Lackey and Richard Brehler: “Dismantling and Rebuilding Learning Processes” in: Jack J. Phillips and Dede Bonner (editors). In Action: Leading Knowledge Management and Learning. American Society for Training and Development, 2000.  pp. 221-233.

Dave Snowden.  “Storytelling and other Organic Tools of Chief Knowledge Officers and Chief Learning Officers”. in: Jack J. Phillips and Dede Bonner (editors). In Action: Leading Knowledge Management and Learning. American Society for Training and Development, 2000.  pp. 237-252.