Davenport on Personal KM

Das e-biz Blog has a post on Tom Davenport's views on Personal Knowledge Management.

Some excerpts:

“All this time, we were looking at KM as an organizational phenomenon, but clearly it has an individual aspect that needs to be examined,” said Davenport. “If we can focus on the individual, then perhaps the organization will follow.”
Davenport said the idea of managing personal information to transform KM will take off for many reasons. First, people are swamped with information and knowledge. “Few people today believe they do not get enough information. In fact, we get plenty of information, and we need to use it more effectively,” said Davenport. Second, thanks to the Internet, Google, and other knowledge resources, there are greater expectations for information access. Third, because of self-service strategies employed by many large organizations, employees often feel they are on their own.
those that are successful at managing personal information generally use as few devices as possible. They tend to focus on one piece of software (e.g., Microsoft Outlook) and learn its capabilities well. (...) Those that are information-adept learn all these capabilities and make that piece of software their centerpiece. Finding a gadget or two and sticking with them is also effective in helping users to manage personal information.
Second, those that are sophisticated information users invest time managing personal information on a weekly basis. Whether it is during a long flight or on a Sunday morning, those that effectively manage their information invest a significant amount of time “cleaning up” and organizing their personal information environment.Vendors will also play in integral role in successfully managing personal information and knowledge. In terms of technology, vendors provide “features and functions but not reliability,” which Davenport described as “the biggest waste of our time.”