Leadership: Knowledge

What is Knowledge?

Most experts, writers and gurus say that we live and work in a knowledge-based economy.

Some call knowledge the new currency; they believe that those who amass more knowledge hold a 'winning hand'.

Others urge us all to manage our knowledge assets more effectively.

Dr. Daniel Tobin, author of, The Knowledge-enabled Organization [1], tells us to "focus all [of our] learning activities" on the "development [or evolution] of knowledge":

Stage 1 - when you mix raw "Data with Relevance and Purpose"


Stage 2 - you now have "Information [which has or can find some useful] "Application


Stage 3 - by applying information to your work you develop "Knowledge [which comes through your experiences and then combines with your new found] "Intuition"


Stage 4 - your knowledge and intuition then becomes "Wisdom"
We learn that there are different types of knowledge - there's the tacit kind of knowledge [intuitive, unconscious thoughts, individual experiential knowledge], and then there is the explicit stuff [articulated, formalized, expressed knowledge].

What secrets or hidden mysteries are being concealed by all this talk about the age of knowledge?

Do you wonder how you are going to become a more efficient, effective and valuable 'knowledge worker'?

This book will help you understand how you can survive, thrive and prosper in this brave new world of knowledge work.

Hopefully you will use this book as one of your key resources, [find "volumes" of resources for knowledge professionals] to skillfully take advantage of your expertise, and effectively leverage your social capital.


Who are the knowledge workers?

In his 1991 book, The Work of Nations: Preparing Ourselves for 21st Century Capitalism, former USA Secretary of Labor, Dr. Robert Reich said "essentially, three broad categories of work are emerging...routine production services, in-person services, and symbolic-analytic services."

In adapting Adam Smith's, Wealth of Nations, to the 21st century, Secretary Reich points to a growing problem in the majority of the workforce - that is, many workers are unskilled in the decoding or in making the most profitable use of their available information.

Dr. Reich defines world-class knowledge workers, about 20% of the entire workforce, as those who can competently, "solve, identify, and broker problems by manipulating symbols.

They simplify reality into abstract images that can be rearranged, juggled, experimented with, communicated to other specialists, and then, eventually, transformed back into reality."

Included in this population of information brokers and problem solvers we find many other unexpected professions - such as, software developers, investment bankers, accountants [CPAs], filmmakers, corporate executives, architects, and engineers.

Now, we can add together the numbers of knowledge workers predicted by Professor Reich with those revealed in a recent study led by the Jensen Group who observed, "The majority of the workforce -- even many manual laborers -- must perform information processing, brokering and analyzing; understanding and using the information involved in getting work done". [2]

What are the challenges facing knowledge workers?

The "father of modern management", Peter F. Drucker, described what the true knowledge workers would require: "…a good deal of formal education and the ability to acquire and to apply theoretical and analytical knowledge.

Above all, they require the habit of continuous learning. Knowledge workers will [make up to 33 or more percent of the workforce by 2000] …give the emerging knowledge society its character, its leadership, its social profile." [3]

In essence, to understand what knowledge workers do we must admit that, "Knowledge does not exist without practice. Practice does not exist without action". "Acting is creating knowledge and thus learning at the same time - [so then] acting is knowledge creation in action." [4]

The challenge facing every knowledge worker is found in three key areas:

How can your work deliver or contribute to the 'value' received by customers?
How will your knowledge work products enhance 'quality' or ensure that it is provided to and realized by customers?
How will your knowledge products, processes or skills increase the 'growth' of your enterprise and its customers?

References:

[1] The Knowledge-enabled Organization - Moving from "Training" to "Learning" to meet Business goals, Copyright © 1997 , Daniel Tobin, Ph.D.,


[2] Changing How We Work: The Search for a Simpler Way, Copyright © 2000, The Jensen Group, Northern Illinois University - Knowledge Management - Part 4

[3] "The Age of Social Transformation," Peter F. Drucker, ©1994, Atlantic Monthly,

[4] Knowledge, Practice, Activities and People, Maarten Sierhuis & William J. Clancy, posted on World Wide Web - 1997-99



How Can 'Value', 'Quality' & 'Growth' Open-up the "Gates of Knowledge"?

We know that knowledge needs practice and practice means taking action. The results of any given action will show you a form of value, an aspect of quality and the signs of growth.

You know that every action produces an outcome, so what we are describing here is how you can divide that 'outcome' into three major parts or portions.

Each portion promises huge opportunities for the knowledge worker - each one shows where, what, and how you can make inroads into the treasure troves of the knowledge world.

However, please be careful, this journey of ours is heading deep into the very depths of the human experience [a brief glimpse into the cosmological anthropic principles].


We need to look closely at a few primordial meanings to see how these concepts can be assimilated, understood, mastered by you and then incorporated into your daily work.

Value usually reflects or reveals the physical, tangible nature of our activities. For example, we say that something has value because we got [or believed that we got a better deal or] a larger amount for our money than what we might have expected or felt we deserved.

Value can be added, reduced, combined, rearranged, eliminated - it can be manipulated, adjusted or ordered by you - in a word, value can be "acted-on". The dynamic forces that are operating within the phenomena of value can "act-on" us too.

Do you value that person or their opinion, do those activities or goals hold any value for you, and so on?

You probably think "quality" is something that we know about and clearly understand. If I were to ask you what it means, your answer is likely to be different from all the other people reading these words.

Why is that?

That is because quality is mainly a subjective concept - what is quality to me, may not be of importance to you in the least.

That does not make you a bad person, it means that your ideas about it have been shaped by your own very unique and personal or environmental past, present and future motives.

For example, US dollar bills could get pretty ragged, and most were cut unevenly and inconsistently.

Whenever someone from another country handled this currency, they quickly noticed those flaws and irregularities.

However when Americans paid for their goods and services with those 'uneven' bills, they didn't see any of those problems, in fact, they were perfectly happy to get their hands on those bills, to use them and spend them.

Quality can best be described as an "action-with" - a mind-centric, intellectual or mental exercise.

To conceptualize, evaluate and understand quality, we may wish to ask, what are you [or your customer] "in pursuit of"?

Another approach might begin with this question, who or what leads you towards or in your hunt for qualitative attributes?

To help you 'manage' or assess and sustain quality, you certainly should employ systems thinking, statistical trending and graphing methods.

However for knowledge pros like us, quality always involves the in-depth, continuous, rigorous search for focus, purpose, definition, meaning, control, satisfaction, improvement, and direction.

Finally, another essential and measurable outcome for knowledge workers involves the concept of growth.

Many professionals assume that growth is a natural by-product of their daily labors - of course, nothing could be farther from the truth.

Growth is an "action-for" something - a hope, desire, intent, objective, goal, milestone, etc.

Within every action we take, there is that aspect of acting-for some future-oriented object.

For example, we can act-for the purpose of reaching a long-term goal - I begin taking classes that will help me earn more money to enable me to buy a more luxurious car or the largest mansion in town.

We can act-for the object of achieving intangible milestones - I begin saying positive affirmations today so that in a few weeks I have less of an urge to smoke [my 'intangible' goal] and in a few weeks after that I will begin an exercise program [a tangible goal].

Wanted: Effective Strategies for Motivational or Transformational Leadership

"To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life," wrote Robert Louis Stevenson in Familiar Studies of Men and Books [See Reference 1 below].

Diane M. Eade observes that as, "Simple as that goal may sound, most people get so caught up in the day-to-day activities of living that they never come even close to realizing their full potential or their lifelong dreams."

Ms. Eade, who is a Professional Clinician, Author and Publisher, encourages each of us to, "ask yourself how satisfied you are with your: financial situation and career; social and cultural situations; spirituality and ethics; family and home; mental and educational levels; and physical well-being and health".[2]

What Stevenson, Eade, and countless others understand about leadership is that it, leadership, really applies to everyone regardless of title, position, or job - that means you, your associates, me, we're all leaders - at least of our own lives, personal choices, or individual pursuits.

We can use motivational leadership strategies to propel ourselves towards the places we want to be - for instance, a better paying job, an interesting or more challenging career, a thriving community or cleaner environment to live in, etc. Motivational leadership takes advantage of the key elements of popular attitude-based, mental visualization, positive motivational techniques. For example - there is:

Goal, objective, outcome specification - Goal Pro gets you "going" in the right direction! - FREE 30-day Trial;

Positive affirmations, meditation, self-hynopsis - Use Noah St. John's secrets to break-through your mental & emotional blocks:
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Graphic visualizations, like pictures, drawings, scale models, etc. - Visit successories.com! - Successories helps you "see" all your potential;

Define tasks/actions to reach step-by-step or incremental targets, milestones, small wins - Click HERE to visit our Amazon "Resource Center";

Record, evaluate & recognize/celebrate progress, set-backs, major achievements and then adjust plans as needed - Request your copy(s) of our Performance Enhancers - Action Guide Workbook

Anyone who yearns for success, fulfillment, or continuing prosperity must own a crystal-clear, recorded, compelling vision of their goal, endpoint, or outcome. This nifty online software helps you define specific goals, determine measurable objectives, and helps you reach for and attain your career, personal or organizational success

Motivational or Transformational Leadership Styles?
The differences between motivational and transformational leadership strategies are found within the context of the situations or opportunities facing you. You might employ motivational techniques for slow-moving change initiatives or programs and campaigns needing a longer time frame.

However, for circumstances requiring radical, fundamental or extraordinary change, you might want to adopt a transformational leadership strategy or strategic approach.

Dr. Colvin, who admires the findings of J.M. Burns [3], highlights Burns' definition of leadership as "inducing followers to act for certain goals that represent the values and the motivations - the wants and needs, the aspirations and expectations - of both leaders and followers".

Colvin continues his prescription for organizations by citing Burns' view of leadership as, the relationship between leaders and followers who are acting interactively to attain some purpose. The nature of that interaction can be either transactional or transformational in nature.[4]

Want to apply these and other effective Leadership principles to your personal life, daily work activities or long-term career prospects?

Do you crave more visibility, persuasive written or oral communications or better teamwork and collaboration skills?

Should you aspire to be perceived as a "thought-leader", a valuable knowledge resource or a highly esteemed adviser?

If you desire to strengthen your motivational or transformational leadership impact, you might take a hard look at our:

Leadership Tutorials,


Special Knowledge Masters series, or


"live", web based, in-depth Workshop Programs.

REFERENCES

1. Stevenson RL: Familiar Studies of Men and Books. Copyright © 1902, C. Scribner's and Sons
Get Your Copy of This Book From Amazon - Familiar Studies of Men and Books

2. "Goal Setting - Strategies for a Balanced Life" by Diane M. Eade, Copyright © 1995 Clinicians Publishing Group.

3. Burns, J. M.,"Leadership", Copyright © 1978, Harper and Row.

4. "Transformational Leadership: A Prescription for Contemporary Organizations", Copyright © 1999, Robert E. Colvin, Ph.D.