Knowledge management (KM) is stuck in a recurrent and costly cycle of overpromising and underdelivering. Operational professionals are forced to abandon existing out-of-date and underused knowledge and start fresh with renewed enthusiasm, only to return to where they started. But to understand why KM fails, operational executives need to be aware of how long-standing beliefs are getting in the way of success. This report will identify the common failures and outline the steps to transition to agile and lean KM.