My Presentation to the 2018 Midwest KM Symposium held in Cleveland, OH 10 AUG 2018

1. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN
A COMBINED/JOINT
ENVIRONMENT
by Cory L. Cannon, CKM
United Nations Command/
Combined Forces Command/
United States Forces Korea
#MidwestKM

2. Contents
 About the presenter
 Knowledge Management Defined
 Knowledge Management in Middle East Operations
 Knowledge Management in Far East Operations
 Failures of Knowledge Management programs
 Recommendations
 Command Decision-Cycle
 Building the Information Flow
 Questions
#MidwestKM

3. About the Presenter
20 years in United States military (United States Marine Corps &
United States Army Reserves)
Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn,
Operation Inherent Resolve
Has stood up 6 Knowledge Management Offices within the
United States Army, Army Reserves and Combined Joint Task
Force.
Has worked with militaries from over 70 nations in
Combined/Joint Environments
Currently working as a Knowledge Management Specialist at
United Nations Command/ Combined Forces Command/
United States Forces Korea
#MidwestKM

4. Knowledge Management Defined within the DoD
 Knowledge Management being defined within the U.S. Department of Defense as a
discipline focused on integrating people and processes enabled by tools
throughout the information lifecycle in order to create shared understanding and
increase organizational performance and decision-making.
 Four Components
 Organization
 People
 Process
 Tools
#MidwestKM

5. Knowledge Management in
Middle East Operations
 Knowledge Management Office is three years old.
 Common Operating Picture (COP) focused – where are the friendlies and where
are the enemies.
 Signification Actions Reporting – maintained in a structured database that is
easily quarriable.
 Able to make quick, accurate decision – can we hit that facility, what are the
second and third order effects.
 Build coalition integration into the process – what expertise can our partners
contribute to the fight.
 Battle Rhythm preformed properly maximizes staff time to work prior to
presenting it to a decision maker. If the meeting does not need to be
conducted it is cancelled.
 Process and Tools focused.
 Looking at Lessons Identified to incorporate into future planning efforts
#MidwestKM

6. Knowledge Management in
Far East Operations
 Knowledge Management Office is just over three years in operation.
 Command is agile in nature, adopted a Battle Rhythm and working on
establishing/chartering appropriate meetings to fit both the decision
makers and the action officers.
 Staff sections not embracing KM entirely. Command team (C level
executives) have embraced concept not understanding execution.
 Common Operation Picture does not include all staff equities.
 Started off tools focused (SharePoint) just starting to get the staff to
understand the process improvement portion of Knowledge Management
 Lessons identified is only done for military exercises currently
 Just starting to integrate the Korean military and the coalition into the
Knowledge Management processes and policies.
#MidwestKM

7. Failures of Knowledge Management programs
 No Measurable Results
 No Meeting Management
 No Lessons Identified System
 Organizational Culture not considered or willing to change
 No Support from Leadership
 Common Operation Pictures does not include all equities
 Being tool centric
 Lack of KM Strategy
#MidwestKM

8. Recommendations
Take a Knowledge Assessment of the OrganizationAssess
Develop a Knowledge Management Strategy
Include a representation from the entire coalition when developing strategy
Develop
Create a Lessons Identified System to include SME locatorLearn
Make Knowledge Measurable - equate to either work hours or return
on investmentMeasure
Look at the short term projects and how they achieve the overall goal
for the organizationAchieve
#MidwestKM

9. Commander Decision-Cycle
Command
Board
Functional
Integration
Board
Functional
Board
Functional
Board
Functional
Board
Commander
Deputy Commander
Chief of Staff
Deputy Chief of Staff
Directors
General Officers
Division Chiefs
Field Grade Officers
• Decision
• Information / Coordination
• Guidance / Direction
Planning
Teams
Work
Groups
Functional
Board
8/43/2 5/3 CoS/5
CoS

10. 7 Minute Drill Format
#MidwestKM

11. Information Flow Diagram

12. Battle Rhythm Example
Notes
HHQ
Event
J-Staff C-Staff U-Staff
HHQ Meeting
J Command Board
C Command Board
J Situational Awareness Brief
J Functional Board
Functional Integrating
Board
J Working Group
- Command Board: Up to 3 topics at 20 minutes per topics.
U Command Board
J Functional Board J Functional Board J Functional Board J Functional Board
J Working Group J Planning Team
C Situational Awareness Brief
U Functional Board
J Working Group
J Working Group
U Working GroupC Working Group
U Planning Team
C Planning Team
U Situational Awareness Brief
U Planning Team U Planning Team
C Planning Team
C Working Group
J Planning Team

13. QUESTIONS