This is a story about the World Bank. And when I look back on the situation in February 1996 when I started thinking about knowledge management, we had essentially nothing in place. No top management support, no mission statement, no strategy, no organization, no budget, no incentives, few communities, no technology, no measurement, in fact none of the things that you need to launch and implement a knowledge management program.
   I sometimes ask business school classes: “What are my chances? Given this situation, what the probabilities of successfully launching knowledge management in this organization?” and they always answer: “Practically zero.” 
   And in a way they are right. 

The World Bank

   All this occurred in the World Bank, which is an international organization, headquartered in Washington D.C. aimed at reducing poverty in the world’s poorest countries. It has been a lending organization for its entire life. It lends up to 30 billion dollars a year, run on commercial lines.
   And the World Bank is a notoriously change-resistant organization. Some consider even as the Mount Everest of change-resistant organizations. You think your organization is tough? 
   Well, try change at the World Bank. Just to give you an illustration. In the mid-1980s, the President of the World Bank came from being head of the Bank of America, where he was voted “Best Manager in America”. He came to the  World Bank and tried to launch change. He left after five years, really without even making a scratch on the place. He went back to become once again head of the Bank of America, where he was once again voted “Best Manager in America”. So you see, it’s not enough to be the “Best Manager in America”. It really is a very difficult place to change.