I participated in a TweetJam today – the discussion centered on process improvement approaches and solutions for managing unpredictable, less structured knowledge work.  Connie Moore (@cmooreforrester) of Forrester Research moderated the Jam – Twitter hashtag #acmjm – and along with authors of the newly published book Mastering the Unpredictable  did a really fast paced conversation that explored adaptive case management (ACM) concepts and answered questions from business and IT practitioners. 

BTW, you can buy the MtU book out on Amazon (I posted a review out there)  or register for a complimentary copy at the Global 360 Case Management resource center.

This tweet session was awesome not only because it explored some of the latest thinking and technology for process improvement, but also because it used Social Media to bring together  a diverse community  of thought leaders from around the globe.  There were more than 800 tweets in just a 2 hour period from more than 70 participants!   I suspect there were many more who were monitoring the discussion – since the “invitation” to the Jam reached more than 44,000 people on Twitter alone and the Jam itself reached about 5,000 people on twitter with one or more of the tweets. 

I know the authors will be Blog’ing about their impressions from the Jam and hope that other participants will too.  I’ll share my perspective on some of the highlights in this and subsequent blog entries.  For today, here’s two of the topics:

1. Why all the buzz about ACM now?

It’s true that “case management” has been around for some time, but the “buzz” is growing  these days because of the increasing importance of “knowledge work” on the “demand side’ and the availability/evolution of  more effective adaptive case management solutions on the “supply side.”  

  •  tomshepherd: RT @cmooreforrester: At #Forrester we think the nature of work is changing. Repetitive work is automated or off-shored. what’s left is really hard work #acmjam
  • swensonkeith: @cmooreforrester knowledge work is not routine. Precise work depends upon situation. Emergent, highly effected by how it unfolds #acmjam
  • juliebhunt: RT @piewords: @cmooreforrester I think the realization that neither #ECM or #bpm vendors can do it alone has focused the attention.#acmjam

One of the best Tweets was from Joshua Waldman on the nature of knowledge work itself! 

cmooreforrester: I like this definition RT @JoshuaWaldman: Knowledge work= using your creative brain to achieve a goal. #acmjam

2. What is ACM technology?

Lots of discussion around this question and I agree with Forrester that business process management (BPM) and enterprise content management (ECM) suites alone are insufficient for dynamic case management, but the convergence of BPM, ECM, business analytics, and event processing will breathe new life into case management… and will provide new opportuntities for businesses to benefit from the technology. 

  • tomshepherd: #CaseManagement requires a blend of capabilities, some from ECM,BPM,BI.Some BPMS are flexible enuf. Same 4 #ECM #acmjam

My colleague Tom Shepherd and I recently wrote an executive perspective white paper on the topic of knowledge work and ACM; you can check it out at Winning in the New Normal: Adaptive Case Management Strategies to Deal with Business as it Happens.