Knowledge sharing in practice: applied storytelling and knowledge communities at NASA

Abstract

The idea for the Knowledge Sharing Initiative (KSI) was born in 1999, when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Academy of Program and Project Leadership (APPL) director Dr. Edward Hoffman teamed up with Dr. Alexander Laufer, an engineering professor at the University of Maryland. They worked together on a project focused around project management, which culminated in a book, Project Management Success Stories. Dr. Hoffman was impressed with Dr. Laufer's expertise in using storytelling to promote knowledge sharing among project managers, and NASA APPL's KSI was proposed. The programme was funded in late 2000 to facilitate two annual knowledge sharing conferences and to produce an online storytelling magazine entitled ASK (Academy Sharing Knowledge) and various programmes promoting cross-centre collaboration. The KSI continues to impact NASA and make a sizeable contribution towards changing its culture. This culture is one that is largely centred around project management.