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Exploring Opportunities for Shared Meaning Making

Knowledge Opportunity Scanning™ is grounded in over 25 years of nonprofit and philanthropic sector experience and supports you in identifying the most promising knowledge opportunities in your current philanthropic context.

Objectives

In this course participants will:

  • Develop central intentions for your knowledge scan process.
  • Dive into the various elements of opportunity scanning.
  • Build a toolkit to gather information as data.
  • Align knowledge work with familiar organizational processes.
  • Identify the important asks of your technology partners and systems.

Curriculum

Module One. Entering a Knowledge Opportunity Scan™

  • Lesson 1: Preparing for your knowledge scan
  • Lesson 2: Using the scan to advocate for knowledge work
  • Lesson 3: Beginning or refreshing knowledge practice using a scan
  • Lesson 4: Approaching a scan as a way to develop a knowledge strategy

Module Two. Elements of Knowledge Opportunity Scanning™  

  • Lesson 5: Mapping key structures
  • Lesson 6: Envisioning spaces for relationship building
  • Lesson 7: Clarifying possible change pathways
  • Lesson 8: Working with beliefs, archetypes and narratives

Module Three: Tools for Uncovering Relevant Information

  • Lesson 9: Prompting relevant conversations
  • Lesson 10: Engaging experience through insight groups
  • Lesson 11: Recognizing hidden gems in existing documents
  • Lesson 12: Identifying knowledge leads in grant process and systems

Module Four: Connections to Familiar Organizational processes

  • Lesson 13: Recognizing knowledge work within planning
  • Lesson 14: Recognizing knowledge work as an aspect of organizational learning
  • Lesson 15: Recognizing valuing as one aspect of knowledge work
  • Lesson 16: Recognizing knowledge work as the core of network learning

Module Five: Technology Asks in Scanning

  • Lesson 17: Mapping programming and relationships
  • Lesson 18: Visualizing important connections
  • Lesson 19: Mining operational and grantee reporting
  • Lesson 20: Categorizing for insight building