Why Knowledge Fusion?

When I was trying to think of a company name that would reflect who I am and what I do, I experimented a lot with words and what they represent. I was also thinking of what type of logo would represent what I do.

The reason I chose the name "Knowledge Fusion" is because it creates a visual image of what could happen when you bring together knowledge from diverse disciplines and expertise to synthesis new thoughts and ideas.

In the world of Physics, "Fusion" is defined as "a nuclear reaction in which nuclei combine to form more massive nuclei with the simultaneous release of energy".

In music, "Jazz Fusion" is a blend of the heavy rhythms of rock with jazz elements to create a totally new experience that brings the best of both the rock rhythm and the melodic jazz to a whole new level for the listener who experiences it and the musicians that play it.

And I'm sure most of us have experienced the surprise of the sensory delight derived from "fusion cooking" where the chef combines elements and techniques from diverse cultures to CREATE something completely new unique.

What I have done over my 20 years of experience in business can't really be described in words. A resume couldn't possibly begin to describe in words what the people involved in the project experienced.

In order to accomplish the success that I've experienced in my career, I leveraged my ability to rapidly draw knowledge out of the various experts and mix the knowledge together until they created the fusion reaction that was needed to manifest the vision of the solution. From that point on, it's all about orchestrating the team of experts implement the projects in harmony.

Hence we have the wonderful experience of "Knowledge Fusion".

Is it management consulting? Is it systems analysis and design? Is it about the Project Management skills and techniques? Am I able to do this because I have a BMath in Computer Science with a minor in Fine Arts?

For my logo, I thought about trying to create an image that captured the idea of taking chaos and structuring it into something neat and organized but that didn't really convey it all.

Then, I came up with my business card idea where I have blocks of solid primary colours around the card and then a bright white space for my name etc. The idea behind this is abstract - the idea of taking red/green(or yellow)/blue beams of light, each of them marvelous in their own unique qualities, but when you focus the beams of light together, you get a brilliant WHITE beam of illumination that is so much more radiant than a regular white light (there's that fusion of physics and art again). THIS is what I am really good at. Focusing and channelling the various beams of light into something even more spectacular.

Of course, all this is an abstract metaphor of how I "work". This is not my marketing message - Someday my website will have the "right" marketing message on it (www.knowledgefusion.ca). But this is the sensory experience of how people felt when we successfully launched our projects. It really is exhilerating to feel all the parallel components of a solution come together and launch harmoniously.

If anybody has any marketing advice on how to communicate this type of service, I would love to hear your feedback!

What I would like to do is find a way to communicate the value of harmonious cross-functional solution facilitation to business managers. Everybody knows the value of the Project Management discipline by now. They know what happens when projects don't follow a disciplined methodology. However, the catch is that Project Management only kicks in once the SOLUTION selection has been made.

My hypothesis is that the solution definition process needs more attention and expert resources need to be engaged earlier in the process.

In 2002, the Rotman School of Business in Toronto created the Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking and Roger Martin (Dean and Professor of Strategic Management, Rotman School of Management) has written extensively about Integrative Thinking Skills (Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative Thinking - ISBN#978-1422118924). I could blog much more on this topic, but I'll save that for another day.

For today, that is the end of the story of why I named my company "Knowledge Fusion".