I’ve always found the people who work in Knowledge roles fascinating and inspiring, so I’m delighted to introduce you to some of the interesting people that I’ve met.

Today we meet Hank Malik of HanKMalik Consulting.

Hank is an Independent Knowledge Management and Transformation Lead, recently arrived in UK.

Hi Hank, welcome to Knowledge4Lawyers (and 4EveryoneElseToo). I’m looking forward to hearing about your journey so far in KM.

How did you end up in your current role? Was there a key factor/turning point in your ending up in this role?

I have just started my own consultancy in the UK, after a successful career in Knowledge Management, Transformation, Information Management, Change Management and Learning.  Thankfully, I have enjoyed a rewarding career where I was fortunate enough to work for some of the largest and most prestigious Management Consultancies, focusing on Knowledge Management as an external service to many international clients in both the private and public sectors.  In addition, I have led multiple KM teams, with a recent focus in the Energy sector and Digital Transformation in the Middle East.   So now seemed a perfect time to branch out independently with the aim of providing expert interim services on a select basis.

What aspect of KM do you find most fascinating?

I have always enjoyed the full scope of Knowledge Management from design and development, through to launch, implementation, and on-going sustainability.  The areas I find most rewarding include the project managing and leading the delivery of all-encompassing Knowledge Management Programmes. Here I can blend my expert Project Management and KM specialist skills and transfer my expertise to the wider KM teams, so we can all win together and achieve real outcomes.  I also really enjoy to coach and mentor junior KM staff and seeing them develop their skills and progress their careers.

What is the biggest change that you have witnessed during your career in Knowledge?

I want to cover the change and the challenge.

The Change

I see the urgent need to change the mindset and traditional concept of the Knowledge Manager – incumbent today. KM needs to urgently embrace the opportunities of Digital Transformation and all the benefits it can bring. The KM skill sets need to change from traditional Information Management to include all things Digitalisation, including AI, Machine Learning and Big Data.

The Challenge

 With Knowledge Management there are always challenges unfortunately and today`s KMer needs to show tenacity and be inspirational in order to survive let alone develop!  Getting Snr Leadership support is critical for KM and without this, KM will always remain a type of `cottage industry`.  It is a big challenge to achieve this and without the support I would not support a KM programme.

What three things are you focusing on for the next three years?

1.Developing KM and Digital Transformation with the aim of blending the two together to offer an integrated service

2. KM Benefits realisation for the Digital world – adding real value

3. KM Career Path development – training, coaching, certification, and lifelong learning

What do you think is the most exciting new development coming in Knowledge work/KM?

To finally show the real value the sound concepts and approach KM can bring to supporting some of the biggest global challenge we face today. Key in taking the lead with lessons learned from the Pandemic and sharing the key insights so we are better prepared next time.  This needs a concerted effort.

Plus of course as I mentioned above the promise of the benefits of Digitalisation to vastly improve knowledge acquisition, sharing, retention and application for real benefits to be achieved.  Key here is the new thinking in Agile KM and intelligent cognitive discovery search.

Thanks Hank.

If you’d like to connect with Hank and learn more about his work, you can find his LinkedIn profile here.

And if you are a senior KMer who has an interesting KM journey and would like to join in this Q&A series, email me or reply in the comments below.

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