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KCS v6 Principles

KCS v6 Principles – Definitions (Exam Only)

Knowledge-Centered Service.

KCS = Knowledge-Centered Service

Attributes of Knowledge

  • Knowledge = information used to make decisions or take action
  • Knowledge depends on the person and role
  • Gained through interaction and experience
  • Knowledge evolves over time
  • Knowledge is never perfect or complete
  • Shared knowledge > individual knowledge

Exam idea: "The smartest person in the room is all of us together."

Service (KCS Meaning)

  • Service = helping others be successful and productive
  • Based on requester–responder interactions
  • Exists across:
    • Roles
    • Teams
    • Companies
  • Not limited to IT or support

Principles and Core Concepts

Principle

  • A fundamental belief
  • Explains why we do things
  • Applies across multiple practices
  • Does NOT explain how

Core Concept

  • Based on one or more principles
  • More specific than principles
  • Bridges principles and practices

Practice

  • Practices organize what we do
  • Apply principles and core concepts
  • Help structure activities
  • Made up of:
    • Definition
    • Techniques
  • Applicable across many functions (IT, HR, finance)

Technique

  • Techniques describe how we do things
  • Action-oriented and implementable
  • More granular than practices
  • Multiple techniques make up a practice

Vocabulary (EXAM DEFINITIONS)

  • Knowledge

    • Information we can act on
    • By-product of interaction

  • Content

    • Captured, findable knowledge
    • Text, images, audio, video, etc.

  • Network

    • People + content sharing knowledge
    • No role, team, or company boundaries

  • Issue

    • Question, problem, or exception
    • Triggers interaction

  • Knowledge Worker

    • Uses information to decide or act

  • Requestor

    • Knowledge worker seeking knowledge

  • Responder

    • Knowledge worker providing knowledge

Exam Traps

  • Principles ≠ techniques
  • Practices ≠ tools
  • Knowledge ≠ content
  • KCS ≠ IT-only

Create Value (KCS v6 Principle – Exam Only)

Create Value - Knowledge is the product - All knowledge workers deliver knowledge, not just tasks - Value comes from reuse, improvement, and creation of knowledge

Work Tasks; Think Big Picture

  • Tasks matter, but future value matters more
  • Avoid focusing only on the transaction
  • Balance:
    • Solving the issue
    • Capturing what is learned

Knowledge in the Workflow

  • Knowledge base is embedded in daily work
  • Reuse, improve, and create knowledge as a habit
  • Proper KCS:
    • Reduces rework
    • Improves quality
    • Does NOT increase handle time

Organizational Value

  • Shared knowledge improves collective performance
  • Reduces repetitive work
  • Patterns emerge across interactions

KCS and Other Content

  • KCS complements, not replaces:
    • Technical documentation
    • Policies
    • Legal / regulatory content
  • Not all knowledge requires the same control

Capture in the Moment

  • Knowledge is a by-product of interaction
  • Best captured in context of use
  • Best creators are those who use it daily

Tacit vs Explicit Knowledge

  • Tacit knowledge

    • Known but hard to express without context
    • Emerges during interaction

  • Explicit knowledge

  • Can be documented without demand

Exam Traps

  • Task-only focus = ❌
  • After-the-fact knowledge capture = ❌
  • KCS replaces documentation = ❌

Demand Driven (KCS v6 Principle – Exam Only)

Demand Driven - Knowledge is a by-product of interaction - Demand determines: - What knowledge to capture - What knowledge has value - What knowledge gets validated

What Drives Knowledge Capture

  • Capture knowledge based on real issues
  • Reuse what exists
  • Create knowledge only when needed
  • Do NOT anticipate or fabricate issues

Demand Answers Key Questions

  • What knowledge should we capture? → What is requested
  • What knowledge is valuable? → What is reused
  • How is knowledge validated? → Through reuse

Reuse = Review (Very Exam Important)

  • Reused knowledge is validated
  • Knowledge not reused does not get reviewed
  • Best validators = people who use the knowledge

Just-in-Time vs Just-in-Case

  • KCS is just-in-time
  • Avoid just-in-case documentation
  • Future value cannot be predicted accurately

Solve Loop and Evolve Loop

  • Solve Loop

    • Reuse, improve, or create knowledge
    • Validation happens through reuse

  • Evolve Loop

  • Analyze reuse patterns
  • Identify: - High-impact improvements - Process, policy, or product changes - Predictive opportunities

Deterministic vs Non-Deterministic Work (Conceptual Only)

  • Manufacturing = deterministic
  • Problem solving = non-deterministic
  • Resources and process emerge during work
  • Context drives actions

Exam Traps

  • Proactive mass documentation = ❌
  • Reviewing unused articles = ❌
  • Experts validate everything = ❌
  • Predicting future issues = ❌

One-Line Exam Answer

What does demand-driven mean in KCS?
Knowledge capture, value, and validation are driven by real demand and reuse.