Art of possibility

I am a Davos fan. Each year I tune in and stay tuned for the entire duration of the World Economic Forum and I am never disappointed. If you are interested in an alternative leadership and want to know more about "art of possibility" you cannot miss the Davos session with Benjam Zander entitled: "Managing Complexity: A Different Approach"


Benjamin Zander website

Who made the Knowledge Share Fair possible

Well, it looks like all our efforts and hard work of the last 10 months was worth every bit of it. The Share Fair seems to have been a positive and rewarding experience and has created a certain buzz. On Friday my colleagues came up to me saying: "The Share Fair was great, I learnt so many new things, met interesting people and caught up with old friends and colleagues".

We are running a survey to assess the impact of the Share Fair and to find out the overall perception of the participants so that next time we can do a better job.

Many colleagues, facilitators and volunteers worked hard and long hours to make the Share Fair a success. A big thank you to each and every one of them (see slides 7-9).


And then there is Gauri Salokhe alias "Share Fair Mother Teresa" who made it all possible. Without Gauri we would not have made it. She is an amazing lady. I learnt so much from her. I was amazed how she never lost her calm, how she always had a smile on her face, how she continuously reached out to everyone, how she was always tactful and understanding with everyone, how she did what she could to please everyone, how she never shied away from taking on new tasks, how she took charge, how she never said "no", how she was there for everyone, how she had an innovative solution for every challenge and how she never lost her wonderful sense of humour. For the last 10 months Gauri was our beacon. We all have a lot to learn from her. A very special and heartfelt thank you to GAURI SALOKHE.

At the end of the day, the Share Fair provided us not only an opportunity to learn and share rural development experiences but also to learn from colleagues such as Gauri and others how to effectively work and collaborate with others.

So, now that we all feel enriched, when shall we start planning the next Share Fair?!

Waltz With Bashir

Ari Folman is a courageous man. His film Waltz with Bashir is a powerful and thought provoking film. It is one of those films that everyone, starting from politicians to young kids who think war and killing is really cool stuff, should almost be forced to see.

Folman tells the harrowing story of innocents being killed in a senseless war. It is incredible how almost three decades later we have not learnt anything and continue to indulge the same atrocities.

In an interview Folman says: "I hope that at least young people will see that unlike what they're told in schools about brave soldiers who gave their lives, there's no glory in war. Basically, it's about a waste of lives, a very useless idea. The glorification of the dead is horrible."

Make sure you see Waltz with Bashir and let us just hope that sooner rather than later, human-kind will stop wasting lives of young people and finally starts cultivating something good and long-lasting.

Waltz with Bashir website

Let's build on the Share Fair energy and momentum to bring about change

Seven hours ago the Share Fair came to end. As of 5pm today we have approximately 700 people more colleagues who have a better understanding of knowledge sharing and see the value-added of knowledge sharing. 700 people established new contacts and networks. 700 people learnt something new and shared something with others. And most importantly 700 people had fun.

I commend my colleagues for having proactively participated in great numbers. I commend my leadership who despite their busy schedules set aside at least half a day to come over to the Share Fair to visit the booths, talk to people and see for themselves the organization's knowledge in action. I commend senior colleagues and directors, who over the last three days visited the Share Fair more than once and spent considerable amount of time going to sessions and learning something new. I commend all my colleagues who spent many hours attending sessions and taking an active part in the Share Fair.

Kudos to all members of senior management, the Executive Director of our Change and Reform programme, our directors of HR, IT, policy, communications, technical advisory division, chief of staff and regional divisions directors.

Thanks to the Share Fair, we've increased the number of KM champions within the IFAD and converted some cynics. We've strengthened our partnership with the other agencies and built new networks, made new contacts and new friends.

Three days ago in my blog I said: "The fair's inauguration coincides with President-elect Obama taking oath of office. While history is being made across the Atlantic, in Rome, we too are taking an important step to bring about change by demystifying knowledge management and showing that KM is not a fad but a fact and a way of living." And YES we did it!!

We should all go proud of our achievement. The challenge is to keep the momentum and build on the positive energy. The closing ceremony may have closed the Share Fair but the real work starts now. And we are in a better position to do it, because thanks to our expanded networks we have more opportunities to draw on each other's knowledge.

Watch video

Knowledge Share Fair a unique event - bringing about change and the gender dimension of KM

In about 27 hours the Knowledge Share Fair show will start its 3 day journey. The fair's inauguration coincides with President-elect Obama taking oath of office. While history is being made across the Atlantic, in Rome, we too are taking an important step to bring about change by demystifying knowledge management and showing that KM is not a fad but a fact and a way of living.

The preparatory work of this event has been challenging, fun and rewarding. We've learnt a lot, connected with people, established and strengthened our networks. Over the last months I've been reflecting on the "gender dimension of KM". I've been asking myself why is that women are better at knowledge sharing and embracing KM fundamentals. I do not know the answer. I would like to be challenged on this point and if someone out there has done studied the gender dimension of KM I ask them to Share it at the Fair.

Hope to see you all tomorrow and I hope you will enjoy yourselves. Remember the Fair's mantra:
Get out of the Fair your Share of Knowledge

Watch "blip" video