Research behind Flamekeeper

Knowledge books

A reading shelf on organizational memory, lost expertise, continuity management, and practical knowledge transfer.

The knowledge-transfer problem predates generative AI. These books describe why experience disappears, what makes expert judgment hard to document, and how organizations can make continuity an ongoing management practice.

The images in this collection are original Flamekeeper editorial illustrations, not reproductions of the books' covers. Follow the Goodreads link on each page for editions and reader information.

Arnold Kransdorff · 1998

Corporate Amnesia

Arnold Kransdorff's account of organizational memory as a durable asset—and what companies lose when experience repeatedly walks out the door.

Hamilton Beazley, Jeremiah Boenisch, David Harden · 2002

Continuity Management

A practical management case for preserving critical knowledge and productivity before experienced employees leave.

David W. DeLong · 2004

Lost Knowledge

David W. DeLong's strategy for confronting the loss of experience-based knowledge as workforces and critical roles change.

Dorothy Leonard-Barton, Walter C. Swap · 2005

Deep Smarts

Dorothy Leonard and Walter Swap on the experience-based judgment experts develop—and why it is difficult to transfer through documents alone.

Asbjørn Rolstadås, Bjørnar Henriksen, David O'Sullivan · 2012

Manufacturing Outsourcing

A knowledge perspective on outsourcing decisions, supplier relationships, and the context organizations must retain when work moves elsewhere.

Dorothy Leonard-Barton, Walter C. Swap, Gavin Barton · 2014

Critical Knowledge Transfer

Practical methods from Dorothy Leonard, Walter Swap, and Gavin Barton for identifying and transferring a company's most consequential expertise.

Carla O'Dell, Cindy Hubert · 2011

The New Edge in Knowledge

Carla O'Dell and Cindy Hubert's practical guide to building knowledge management into collaboration, governance, culture, and everyday work.

Donald Hislop · 2009

Knowledge Management in Organizations

Donald Hislop's critical introduction to knowledge as a social and political organizational practice—not simply an information asset.

Brent N. Hunter · 2016

The Power of KM

Brent N. Hunter's broad, accessible roadmap for applying knowledge management across organizations and wider society.

Shelda Debowski · 2006

Knowledge Management: A Strategic Management Perspective

Shelda Debowski's people-centered framework for building the leadership, culture, services, and systems that sustain organizational knowledge.

Peter F. Drucker, Ikujiro Nonaka, and other HBR contributors · 1998

Harvard Business Review on Knowledge Management

Eight landmark HBR essays on information-based organizations, knowledge creation, learning, experience, research, and professional expertise.

Arnold Kransdorff · 2012

Knowledge Management: The Death of Wisdom

Arnold Kransdorff on corporate amnesia, employee churn, organizational memory, and the repeated decisions that erode productivity.

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