From Golden Circle to KM Strategy: The Power Is in the Adaptation
Many organizations struggle when designing their Knowledge Management strategy.
Not because they lack ideas — but because they lack a clear thinking framework, and sometimes because there is too much GenAI involvement too early.
When we design KM strategies at ROM Global (for our clients and for ourselves), we often rely on Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle.
While this brilliant model is general, a few thoughtful adaptations make it a very powerful framework for KM strategy design.
Simon Sinek speaks about three core questions:
WHY – the vision
HOW – the guiding principles
WHAT – the actions and solutions
When adapting the model to Knowledge Management, we refine and expand it:
1. WHY – Defining the KM ambition
In KM we usually see three possible levels of aspiration:
Protecting the organization from knowledge-based business loss
Improving business performance through knowledge (effectiveness and efficiency)
Accelerating organizational growth based on its knowledge
The first step is identifying the balanced WHY that best fits the organization’s vision, objectives, risks, and opportunities.
2. WHO – Identifying the stakeholders (our added layer)
KM can serve many stakeholders — employees, owners, customers, suppliers, and society.
We therefore map the main stakeholders to prioritize those who should be addressed mainly over the coming three years, and who should be excluded — not because they are not important, but because resources are always limited.
3. HOW – Designing the guiding principles
KM faces unique challenges: it is intangible and often perceived as a “nice-to-have.” People always have other issues that seem more urgent.
By analyzing the organizational barriers to KM excellence, we design guiding KM principles that enable the strategy to succeed in the real organizational context.
4. WHAT – Building the KM roadmap
Here, strategy turns into action.
We select the most suitable KM solutions, prioritize organizational needs, and translate them into a clear roadmap and work plan.
This simple adapted strategy model is the first step toward KM excellence.
The next brick? ISO 30401.
But that deserves its own post.