The technical expert community in a large industrial organization had critical knowledge gaps to close, but no consistent way to:

• diagnose what was missing
• choose the right intervention
• and follow through with clear ownership and measurement.

The result was predictable: knowledge stayed concentrated in a few people, and the organization relied too heavily on “go ask the expert” as the default system.

Treat knowledge management as part of the technical specialist role, not a support service delivered “to them.” If expertise is critical, it needs an operating model: identify gaps, pick the right intervention, and follow through until the knowledge is reusable and the risk is reduced. The goal was to reduce key-person risk and make critical know-how easier to find, reuse, and transfer.

We built a simple operating model specialists and leaders could run together, then embedded it in the technical specialist career program through:

• Ran interviews with specialists and their leaders to surface barriers to knowledge transfer (time, legitimacy, uncertainty about “how,” fear of low value) and used those insights to shape the program design
• Built the program from scratch, including the strategy, operating model, governance structure, and repeatable processes
• Secured leadership buy-in throughout, aligning on priorities, expectations, and how progress would be reviewed
• Designed governance to include leaders as active enablers, with clear roles to create space, remove blockers, and reinforce knowledge transfer
• Designed and delivered the KM upskilling program for technical specialists (learning content & experience)
• Created leader upskilling content, including a short article series addressing the biggest pain points uncovered in interviews
• Led the team through the knowledge gap assessment (the workstream I delegated most)
• Synthesized findings into implementation plans and solution selection
• Created the engagement and launch messaging (emails, presentations, participation materials) to drive enrollment and follow-through

This work built KM capability directly in the technical expert community and turned knowledge gaps into plans specialists could follow and leaders could support and track.

• Capability installed: Within ~7 months, specialists completed KM upskilling and applied it by producing implementation plans with clear owners, timelines, and success measures.
• Execution in motion: Multiple solution types moved into implementation, including mentoring, structured learning paths, improved access to technical content, knowledge mapping, and expert-support concepts.
• Sustained adoption: A governance rhythm was put in place so progress could be reviewed, adjusted, and recognized over time.
• Measurable outcomes: KPIs were defined by solution type, including successor readiness, development plan completion, confidence lift from mentoring, coverage of critical roles, and resolution rates for expert-support mechanisms.