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Black Boys on Mopeds

5 October, 2007

I’m in Manchester (England, not North Carolina) for the week, facilitating a Knowledge Management workshop.  For those not in the know, Knowledge Management basically involves defining and implementing a strategy for capturing an organization’s knowledge (which may be on LANs, paper, individual PCs, or in people’s brains), organizing this so that the information can easily be found, and sticking it all somewhere that everyone who needs it has access to it.  I guess it’s not much of an issue in a small company, but when you’ve got several hundred people who are globally distributed (principally Manchester, Bangkok, and Guatemala) who all have and/or need this information, it requires a more robust solution than Post-its stuck to your PC.  It’s an interesting discipline, even if not entirely new to me (I’ve been doing this since before they started calling it ‘Knowledge Management’).

Of all the places my boss could have sent me, Manchester wasn’t really high on my wish-list (like he pays any attention to that).  Not that I have anything against Manchester itself, but I’ve been sent here several times in the past couple of years already, and with most of my extended family living in Warrington (some 17 miles from Manchester) I’m not exactly a stranger to the area.  But as this is where the knowledge is, this is where I need to be.  Still, in a couple of week’s time they’re sending me to Guatemala – where I’ve never been – for a similar workshop, so that should just about make up for it.

Although I don’t have anything against Manchester (in fact, I quite like it now), I’m still kind of uncomfortable with England in general.  It’s been 14 years since I’ve spent longer than a fortnight here, so it’s no surprise that I don’t exactly feel ‘at home’ here.  But it just all seems so violent.  Sure, America is violent, but at least there’s a point to it (drug wars, muggings, domestic violence…).  Over here there seems to be a lot of violence just for the sake of violence (‘happy’ slapping, people getting beaten up just for looking at the wrong person…).  I caught a TV program a couple of nights ago (called Street Wars or something equally as alarmist) that featured footage of assorted fights and beatings that had been captured by Britain’s many, many CCTV cameras.  I’m not sure how they reason that capturing happy slapping on your mobile phone is “abhorrent” but broadcasting it on national TV is light entertainment, but who am I to argue without getting punched for it?  Anyway, it was pretty grim stuff – people having their heads jumped on, and the likes.  I just don’t understand the British psyche these days, where beating up strangers is a sport, and twelve year old boys are knifing each other in the school playground.  I just feel so disconnected from it all.

That said, I’ve not yet been beaten up myself on this trip back.  In fact, I haven’t actually seen a single threatening ‘hoodie’ – despite parking in an NCP car park in the city center (round the back of the National Express depot; I don’t know why, but bus depots are always dodgy) that had more people than cars in it (and a makeshift sign offering ‘Special Masage’ (sic)), and then taking a wrong turn into Moss Side driving back to the hotel afterwards – so maybe it’s all just media hype.  If I make it through the next two days until my flight out, I’ll take it all back.

To be fair, there is also a lot good in England.  I’ve been slowly stocking up on Galaxy chocolate (in the myriad forms it now comes in), wine gums, and decent liquorice (none of which America has).  Tomorrow I’m off to Marks and Spencers to stock up on little girl’s panties (for my 6-year old daughter!) because there’s no substitute for M&S underwear (as Margaret Thatcher retorted when cheekily asked where she bought her underwear: “From Marks and Spencer, of course.  Doesn’t everyone?”).  And tonight I’m off to see if I can find a curry house (curiously, the most English thing I can think of!).  Throw in the chance to see those members of my family that I’m still on talking terms with, and all-in-all, it won’t have been a bad week away!  England – A great place to visit.

“Bring on the backlash!” – Arctic Monkeys

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Comments

Comment from Neil
Time 8 October 2007 at 1:50 AM

ooooh now just where to begin! Interesting post on the day that six people were shot dead by a “part-time” policeman in Wisconsin (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7032971.stm). Part-time presumably meaning Policeman by day, gunman by night – isn’t there a TV series about that?

Anyway, passing over that bit what I do want to pick you up on is the need for knowledge management in a small business. When you “guess it’s not much of an issue in a small company” you are so wrong. AppSwing is a business of nine people and if you don’t share the information about you risk the IP of the business walking out the door each night and never returning. And if you think that because it is a small business everyone shares – wrong! These are developers, talking isn’t on the agenda when there is code to be cut.

We have really struggled to find the best way to get the information captured and have settled on a wiki but you really have to push to get it populated. Maybe I should get you to facilitate a session or perhaps I should just shoot one of them as an incentive to the rest?

Comment from Dirk
Time 8 October 2007 at 6:08 AM

Interesting you settled on a wiki. That was my suggestion for us here, but was rejected because of the “lack of control” (we’re going for Documentum instead). In terms of getting it populated, I’ve had it added to everyone’s job description that ‘knowledge sharing’ is is core requirement, and a task isn’t finished until the documentation has been updated. Other than that, I may look into incentives, such as gift vouchers for the most prolific contributor (of useful/correct information). Am happy to discuss more., as long as I don’t have to go back to England again for another workshop!

Pingback from interrobang » Blog Archive » Another Week, Another Country
Time 22 October 2007 at 8:55 AM

[…] Hot on the heels of my trip to Manchester a couple of weeks ago, I spent last week in Guatemala, on another business trip.  This time it was for a workshop on change management, with a bit of knowledge management thrown in for good measure (it’s difficult to do the former well, without having the latter in place).  It’s the first time I’ve been to Guatemala, which means I can cross off another country on my map (and not for the reason one of my traveling colleagues does: to indicate getting to first base with a girl from that country!). […]

Pingback from interrobang » Blog Archive » Seek And Ye Shall Find…Something Irrelevant
Time 8 March 2008 at 1:15 PM

[…] I also titled a post “Black Boys On Mopeds“.  This was an article about my dislike of the violence in England and justification for me expatriating.  The title is a Sinead O’Connor song.  It contains the lyrics (also featured in my ‘Lyrical Masterclass’ portlet) “This isn’t the land of Madam George and Roses | It’s the home of police who kill black boys on mopeds | And I love my baby, and that’s why I’m leaving | I don’t want him to know any such thing as grieving”.  I thought it was apposite for the article, but by using this title I have apparently (and unwittingly) suckered dozens of people who want to know the “meaning of black boys on mopeds” to my site.  And they won’t find the answer here.  Actually, to save them further searching, the lyrics refer to an incident in England where the police shot and killed a black youth who was riding a moped in the wrong area of town at the wrong time.  It turned out to be a case of mistaken identity and the incident (re)sparked accusations of racism in the police force.  So now you know. […]

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