Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
finding
perpetual
beta
REFLECTIONS
O N T H E N E T WO R K E R A
A continuing journey to understand how
individuals and organizations can manage
fundamental changes in networked society,
business, and education.
Page 2 of 75
Contents
The Global Village
Figure 1 Organizing Characteristics
Figure 2 TIMN (David Ronfeldt)
Figure 3 Tetrad of a Networked Society
4
4
7
8
Introduction 10
1 THE NETWORK ERA
The Work Shift
Figure 4 20th Century Work Shift
Figure 5 The Future of Jobs in 2014
The Shrinking Middle Class
13
13
16
16
19
19
22
24
26
29
29
32
34
35
37
37
40
43
Seek>Sense>Share 46
Seek 46
Figure 11 PKM Roles
49
Sense 50
Share 57
PKM Tips
PKM Getting Started
61
65
65
68
References 72
Colophon 74
Society
(TIMN)
Communication
Medium
Practice
(Cynefin)
Work
Chaotic
Tribal
Oral
Novel Practices
Action
Simple
+Institutions
Written
Best Practices
Coordination
Complicated
+Markets
Good Practices
Collaboration
Complex
+Networks
Digital
Emergent
Practices
Cooperation
Page 4 of 75
Markets may currently dominate, but institutions and tribes co-exist with them,
in modified forms from when institutions (e.g. the church) or tribes (pre-writing)
dominated. While many people never lose their affinity for community groups
or family (tribes), each mode brings new factors that influence previous ones.
For example, tribalism is alive and well in online social networks. It is just not the
same tribalism of several hundred years ago. Each transition also has its hazards.
For instance, while tribal societies may result in nepotism, networked societies
can lead to deception.
Following tribal societies, institutions enabled small-scale collaborative
behaviours. Collaboration is working together for a common objective.
Collaboration is usually hierarchical, requiring someone to ensure that people
stay on course. Later, markets enabled large-scale collaboration. In institutions
and markets the rules are clear and we know who we are working with (employees, members, suppliers, partners, customers, etc.). Collaboration is the optimal
behaviour in institutions and markets.
Page 5 of 75
Page 6 of 75
large
scale
small
scale
Market
Network
Institution
Tribal
collaborative
cooperative
competition
hierarchy
connection
kinship
Page 7 of 75
REVERSE
EXTEND
into deception
civil society
network
society
RETRIEVE
cooperation
OBSOLESCE
hierarchies
The medium of a network society could then be seen to 1) extend civil society;
2) obsolesce hierarchies; 3) retrieve the cooperation of kinship; and 4) when
pushed to its limits, reverse into deception.
We are becoming the global village that McLuhan wrote about in 1962. Like a
tribal village, certain aspects of human behaviours that we have ignored for centuries are becoming important as we move into a network society. There was
little privacy in the village, as there seems to be no more privacy today. While
Page 8 of 75
we will not repeat the past, there is much we can learn from it. Our new business
models should not just celebrate what we have made obsolete, but we should
also look back to see what we can retrieve and most importantly, what reversals
we can avoid.
Avoiding societal deception in the network era requires an aggressively intelligent
citizenry and workers actively engaged in all aspects of democratic enterprises. Continuing to collaborate in hierarchies, with gatekeepers and other control
mechanisms, will not transform us into a well-functioning networked society. In
the network era, collaboration is outdated. We need to learn how to work cooperatively to deal with the complex problems facing us that cannot be addressed
through our existing tribal, institutional, and market structures.
Page 9 of 75
Introduction
This ebook contains a series of reflections on the themes presented in seeking
perpetual beta, published in April, 2014. The aim of this second ebook is to dig
deeper on the issues. This is a continuing exploration of how society, technology,
work, and education are changing. It questions the status quo of how organizations are structured in order to get work done. In addition, there is an expanded
section on personal knowledge mastery (PKM ), a foundational discipline for
working in the network era and a creative economy.
In a hyper-connected world of 3 billion people online, and an expected 50 billion
devices in the near future, the environment any organization is facing is much
more complex than it was two decades ago. But this was when most executives were learning how to do their jobs. Many are ill-equipped for the cognitive
overload they face, as traditional jobs, from typing, to customer service, to legal
research, are relentlessly automated by software. Software-enabled teams like
Amazon and Netflix are able to directly compete with industry incumbents, and
can do so with significantly fewer employees.
Page 10 of 75
Page 11 of 75
Harold Jarche
Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada, December, 2014
Page 12 of 75
50%
far
m
ing
1900
fa
u
n
ma
labour force
in
tur
1920
The period of 1900 to 1920 saw a significant shift in the American economy, with
manufacturing replacing farming as the dominant economic activity. The resulting demographic shift saw millions of men leaving farms and moving to factories.
A similar shift has happened at other times in various parts of the world. One
hundred years later and North America and other regions are witnessing a new
shift from the industrial economy to the network era and a creative economy.
Page 13 of 75
Today, knowledge-based work is replacing manufacturing and information processing jobs. Robots and software are displacing routine work. Meanwhile, collaborative work is dominating both transactional and production work. The future
of valued, human work is in collaboratively addressing complex problems and
coming up with creative solutions.
One major difference between the work shift of the last century and the current
one is that there are no jobs waiting for displaced workers today. One hundred
years ago farm hands could move to the city and get a job. Today, the future of
work is not in the form of a job. This may be a shock to those already in the workforce but it is an accepted reality among many younger people.
Networks are beginning to replace hierarchies as the organizational model to get
work done and exchange value. Jobs are relics of hierarchies. In networks, there
is no need for standardized and replaceable jobs. Every node is unique, which
strengthens the overall network. In a network, relying on standard approaches
only erodes trust, as it does not treat each node as an individual. Knowledge
networks are built on human relationships and trust emerges over time.
Most of the knowledge required for creative work is implicit. It cannot be found
in a manual or a text book, and there is no training program to become creative.
Informal learning, often with peers, is how creative workers have learned through
the ages. Modern organizations need to take the best aspects of what the artist
studios and artisan guilds offered and find ways to replicate these. Social experiments, such as co-work spaces and crowd-funded projects, are emerging in the
creative economy.
How can an organization adapt to the network era? First, it needs to be structured as a network. The initial design of the organization influences everything else. Hierarchies will continue to act as they always have. Networks are
Jarche.com > 2014
Page 14 of 75
multi-layered and have many valences. Most hierarchical organizational structures address only the knowledge and economic aspect of our lives. A networked
organization brings all aspects into play identity, psycho-social needs, and
ecological factors. Creating the best, and most human, environment for people to
get work done should be the primary job of a CEO .
Social networks have to be supported so that people can connect outside the organization in order to do their work better. Frameworks such as personal knowledge mastery (Part 2) ensure that everyone takes responsibility for sense-making and knowledge-sharing. By practicing PKM , everyone is encouraged to think
critically. All workers have to continuously question the contexts in which they
are working, as what worked yesterday may not work tomorrow.
Active experimentation in the organization can be encouraged through constant
learning-by-doing, as established best practices are useless in dealing with complexity. Everyone needs to be connected to the goals of the organization (network), not just doing their job. Results will emerge from the entire network when
everyone is responsible in a transparent and open organization.
A networked organization is more resilient and flexible, with multiple redundant
connections, similar to how the Internet is structured. We do not know what
the future will hold but we can be quite sure it will be more complex. The ability
to learn by doing will enable organizations to actively engage their communities and societies. Freedom will not be in independence but interdependence,
which is something we can retrieve from 19th-century America. When Alexis
de Tocqueville toured the United States of America in the 1831, comparing the
new democracy with his native France, he remarked that there were many small
groups of people who were not elected or appointed but were actively engaged
in all aspects of society. He called these associations. Montreal culture hacker,
Page 15 of 75
Sebastien Paquet, has described a similar phenomenon with online social networks which enable ridiculously easy group-forming. Self-forming associations
may be the future of work.
21% of US jobs at
low risk of automation
highly creative
32% of US jobs in
no mans land
Page 16 of 75
Page 17 of 75
model of capital and labour. The innovation that will save the middle class will be
new business models.
Many middle-class, mid-career professionals I have met are unhappy with the
workplace status quo. This time, though, we actually have the means, not just in
our knowledge, but the tools to create new ways of working that do not dehumanize people. There are examples of more human work. The usual examples
of bossless companies e.g. W.L. Gore (US ), Semco SA (BR ), Mondragon (ES )
are often discussed, but seldom replicated.
The only way to create better workplaces is to vote with our feet. If those who
are educated, knowledgeable, and experienced do not push for a better world of
work, then who will? Many young people are moving to a shareable economic
model, which is quite powerful, but this may not be enough to sustain other aspects of society necessary in the network era, such as utilities, healthcare, public
education, basic research, and many other areas that could also do with more
democracy and more humanity.
The people formerly known as the middle class have the unique opportunity to
become the people who will make work more human. It will begin by changing
the worldview. Hierarchies do not need to be the natural organizational model.
People can work in self-managing networks.
Page 18 of 75
unlimited
information
self-publishing
ridiculously easy
group-forming
Seb Paquet
A new model for work is required. Hierarchies, simple branching networks, are
obsolete. They work well when information flows mostly in one direction: down.
Hierarchies are good for command and control. They are handy to get things done
in small groups. But hierarchies are rather useless to create, innovate, or change.
We have known for quite a while that hierarchies are ineffective when things
get complex. For example, matrix management was an attempt to address the
weakness of organizational silos resulting from simple, branching hierarchies. In
matrix management people have more than one reporting line and often work
across business units. However, the performance management system and job
structure have remained intact so that matrix management has just added more
complication, rather than increased effectiveness.
Page 19 of 75
Page 20 of 75
network platforms can help, letting anyone connect to another colleague, where
the default permission to get access to information is public.
In an interconnected world, systemic changes are sensed almost immediately.
Therefore reaction times and feedback loops have to get faster. Software takes
over routine work, leaving the more complex tasks to people. Workers need more
trusted relationships to share complex knowledge. But these take time to develop. Sharing knowledge in trusted networks does not happen overnight. Complex
problems cannot be solved alone. They require the sharing of tacit knowledge,
which cannot easily be put into a manual. Tacit knowledge flows best in trusted
networks. This trust also promotes individual autonomy and can become a foundation for organizational learning, as knowledge is freely shared. Without trust,
few people are willing to share their knowledge.
In a creative economy we have to change how we think about learning and work.
The most significant change is in how we deal with information and knowledge.
We no longer have to go to the library to get a book. We have access to a growing network of expertise from people, like bloggers, who are willing to share
their knowledge for free. Expertise is becoming ubiquitous through the Internet
and professional social networks. Ones position in the hierarchy is no longer an
indicator of ones influence or knowledge. As a result, many are beginning to
challenge the hierarchical nature of the organization.
For thousands of years people developed work skills through apprenticeship. This
worked for small numbers and developed into the highly structured guild system
in Europe. Industrialization marked the fall of the guild system. The industrial
economy adopted a new management frameworks, which included something
called human resources (HR ).
Page 21 of 75
Human Networks
Recruiting, talent management, professional development, and every other area
of HR is trying to deal with the post-industrial workplace. Most business leaders
see that the Internet is changing their business. They understand that automation is a force to be reckoned with. However, many do not have a clue where or
how to start. The old ways of thinking are still firmly entrenched, but we cannot
deal with the new era in the same way we managed the old one. Leaders need
to understand what they are dealing with and use the appropriate methods. First
they need to understand the difference between chaotic, complex, and complicated situations.
Chaos is a state in which the only appropriate response is to do something quickly, as in an emergency. Chaotic situations require action. Organizations should
try to avoid chaos. Complex environments are not chaotic but they cannot be
completely understood in advance. Weather systems are complex. Patterns can
be sensed and responses prepared, but each case is different. Emerging practices
need to be developed while staying engaged with complex systems. Pretty well
all human systems are complex. Complicated environments, on the other hand,
have many pieces but they can be understood with enough analysis. An airplane
is complicated.
Many traditional management practices assume the business system is complicated and understandable, given enough time to analyze it. This is perhaps the
major flaw of industrial management. Most of our difficult organizational problems are actually complex. They cannot be understood except in hindsight. Each
time we deal with a complex environment it is different. This means we cannot
repeat what we did before and expect the same results. Instead, complex situations require constant small probing actions that are safe to fail. We can only
Page 22 of 75
Page 23 of 75
connections are many, organizations have to let all workers actively share their
knowledge. To succeed in the creative economy, organizations require a combination of actively engaged knowledge workers, using optimal communications
tools, all within a supportive work structure.
We are at the beginning of another management revolution, similar to the one
that created modern business schools and their scientific methods. There are
many examples today of companies testing out new management models such
as the social enterprise, democracy in the workplace, self-organizing work teams,
and networked free-agents. While there are no clear answers, it is fairly certain
that standing still will lead to failure. Giving up control is the great challenge for
management.
Organizations have to become knowledge networks. An effective knowledge network cultivates the diversity and autonomy of each worker. Networked leaders
foster deeper connections, developed through ongoing and meaningful conversations. They understand the importance of tacit knowledge in solving complex
problems. Networked leaders know they are just nodes in the knowledge network
and not a special position in a hierarchy. The new focus of management has to be
on supporting human networks.
Networked Workplaces
Networks are in a state of perpetual Beta. Unlike hierarchies, they can continuously change shape, size, and composition, without the need for a formal reorganization. Our thinking needs to continuously change as well. Of course this
means letting go of control. Hierarchies were essentially a solution to a communications problem. They are artifacts of a time when information was scarce and
hard to share, and when connections with others were difficult to make. That
time is over.
Jarche.com > 2014
Page 24 of 75
Page 25 of 75
Page 26 of 75
At the edge of the organization, where there are few rules everything is a blur. It
may even be chaotic. But opportunities are found in chaos. Value emerges from
forays into the chaos. In such a changing environment, failure has to be tolerated.
Nothing is guaranteed other than the fact that not playing here puts any organization at a significant disadvantage.
When dealing with work problems we can categorize the response as either
known or new. Known problems require access to the right information to solve
them. This information can be mapped, and frameworks such as knowledge
management can help us map it. We can also create tools to do work and not
have to learn all the background knowledge in order to accomplish a known task.
New problems need tacit knowledge to solve them. The system handles the
routine stuff and people, usually working together, deal with the exceptions. As
these exceptions get addressed, some or all of the solution can get automated,
and so the process evolves. Exception-handling is becoming the primary work for
people in the networked workplace.
Complex and new problems cannot be solved using standard methods.
Customized work is the realm of people, not machines or software. People are
the best interface with complexity but they need to be connected and not work in
isolation. This increases the need for more cooperation as the primary long-term
activity, and collaboration for short-term specific projects.
Another challenge for organizations is getting people to realize that what they
know has diminishing value. How to solve problems together is becoming the
real business imperative. Sharing and using knowledge is where business value
lies. With computer systems that can handle more and more of what we already
know, the network era worker has to move to the complex and chaotic edge of
Page 27 of 75
the organization to do the valued work of exception handling, or dealing with new
challenges as they present themselves.
Three major changes are needed for the network era workplace.
First, power must be distributed. Distributed power enables faster reaction time
so those closest to the situation can take action. In complex situations there is
no time to write a detailed assessment. Those best able to address the situation have marinated in it for some time. They could not sufficiently explain it to
someone removed from the problem if they wanted to anyway. Research shows
that sharing complex knowledge requires trusted relationships. Shared power
breathes trust into the workplace.
Second, transparency must become the norm. Transparency ensures there is an
understanding of what everyone is doing. It means narrating work and taking
ownership of mistakes. Transparency helps the organization learn from mistakes.
Of course this is very difficult for any command and control organization, with its
published organization chart and sacrosanct job titles, to embrace. Transparency
is a breath of fresh air that cleans the cobwebs from the hierarchy.
Power-sharing and transparency enable work to move out to the edges and away
from the comfortable, merely complicated work that has been the corporate
mainstay for decades but is now getting automated. There is little comfortable,
stable work left to do inside the organization. But there will always be complex
problems that cannot be solved through automation. These will require active,
engaged, and constantly learning professionals.
Third, everyone in the organization must take control of their learning. It cannot
be left to human resources. Continuous learning is now a critical workplace skill.
Work is learning, and learning is the work. This is an ongoing process of moving
Page 28 of 75
knowledge from the edge (social networks) to the core (work teams) and back
out to the edges. This is how knowledge can be pulled on a daily basis.
Connecting the edge to the core is a major challenge for organizations. It means
connecting emergent practices and cooperative behaviours with collaborative
project-based work. Part of the solution is more open management frameworks
but another part is edge-like individual skills and aptitudes. Personal Knowledge
Mastery covers the latter. It is a continual process of seeking from the edge
(networks), filtering through communities of practice, sense-making at the core
(work teams), and sharing back out to our communities and networks. Once
habituated, it is like breathing in and out, regularly.
tomorrow
labour
obedience
diligence
intelligence
connectivity
initiative
creativity
passion
automation
explicit
knowledge
implicit
formal
learning
informal
tangible
value
intangible
People need to take control of their learning in a world where they are simultaneously connected, mobile, and global; while conversely contractual, part-time, and
Page 29 of 75
local. Organizations must also move learning away from training and HR as some
external quick-fix solution that gets called in from time to time. Learning must be
an essential part of doing business in the network era. Learning has to be owned
by the workers and learning support has to be a function of the business structure. If learning is the work today, why do we need a separate department responsible for managing it? And if workers really are responsible for their learning,
why cant they take control of it?
W. Edwards Deming, American management visionary, understood that systemic
factors account for most organizational problems, and changing these has more
potential for improvement than changing any individuals performance. Therefore
the role of executives should be to manage the system, not individuals. But the
real barrier to systemic change is hierarchical management, as it constrains the
sharing of power, a necessary enabler of organizational learning. People have to
trust each other to share knowledge, and power relationships can block these
exchanges. Just listen to any boardroom meeting and see how power can kill a
conversation. If learning is what organizations need to do well in order to survive
and thrive, then structural barriers to learning must be removed.
A key factor in sustaining any enterprise is organizational learning. Knowledge
gives us the ability to take effective action (know how) and this is the type of
knowledge that really matters in both business and life. Value from this knowledge is created by groups and spreads through social networks.
The only knowledge that can be managed is our own, so organizational knowledge management should first support personal knowledge mastery. PKM is an
individual discipline of seeking, sense-making, and sharing that helps each of
us understand our world and work more effectively. In addition to PKM , groups
should promote working out loud to ensure common understanding and to
Page 30 of 75
address exceptions to the norm, as this is where group learning happens. The
organization can then ensure that important decisions are recorded, codified,
and easily available for retrieval. Each of us is responsible for our own learning
but our responsibility to our peers is to share this learning. If nobody shared what
they have learned, there would be nothing like Wikipedia or other free learning
resources on the web. The same pertains to sharing inside organizations.
Learning in the workplace is much more than formal instruction. In 2012, Jane
Hart, international workplace learning advisor, asked her readers what were their
top five ways of learning at work.
1. Email
2. In-person
3. Reading blogs and articles
4. Searching the Web and social media
5. Connecting in social networks and communities of practice
It is obvious that there are many simple and inexpensive things that can be done
to support workplace learning that do not include training or courses. In an open
environment, learning will flourish, as it has on the Web. When we remove artificial boundaries to working and learning, we enable innovation.
Learning is everywhere. Learning and working are interconnected in the network
era. If learning support is not connected to work, it is rather useless. Consider the
following:
If I am sitting at my desk with a work-related problem, can I call the
Training Department to quickly get me up to speed?
Page 31 of 75
If I want to learn about a new market sector, will the Learning &
Development specialist help me?
If I need some coaching to prepare me for a meeting with a new client,
can I call Human Resources to connect me with the right person who is
available?
If I am stuck on trouble-shooting an unfamiliar piece of software, can I
get someone from Training to walk me through it?
If Im looking for great examples of collaboration and social learning, do
the folks in Training & Development model them?
If I want to become a better networked learner, can I call a Training
specialist to get me started and coach me?
People in a network era learning organization need more than training; they need
ongoing, real-time, constantly-changing, collaborative, support. Much of this
they can get from themselves, their communities of practice, and their networks.
But they can only work effectively if barriers to organizational learning are removed. In such an environment people at all levels are narrating their work in a
transparent environment, the daily routine supports social learning, and time is
made available for reflection and sharing stories. As Frederic Laloux notes in his
book, Reinventing Organizations, the key role of a CEO is in holding the space so
that people can self-manage and learn for themselves.
New Skills
Ours is a globally connected world, with a multitude of local cultures and competition from all directions. Production work is waning and creative work is
in higher demand. We need to develop new workplace disciplines. There are
several primary skills, identified by the Institute for the Future, for networked
Page 32 of 75
professionals in the future workplace of 2020. Four of these are supported by the
PKM
framework.
1. Sense-making
2. Social Intelligence
3. Media Literacy
4. Cognitive Load Management
Page 33 of 75
Professional Social
Networks
Communities of Practice
opportunity-driven
& cooperative
Like electricity, knowledge is both particles and current, or stock and flow. The
increasing importance of fluid knowledge requires a different perspective on how
we think of it and use it. If change is constant, then the half-life of codified knowledge (stock) decreases. We see this with the increasingly combative debates on
intellectual property expressed as copyright which are vestiges of an economy
dominated by knowledge as stock. The digital world is bumping against the
analog world and we are currently caught in-between.
The only way to navigate this change is collaboratively. Part of cognitive
load management is off-loading some of it to our network. No one has the
right answer, but together we can explore new models of sense-making and
Page 34 of 75
knowledge-sharing. We should find others who are sharing their knowledge flow
and in turn contribute our own. While becoming a better digital librarian, or curator, may be important, in the long run it is about being a participating member of
a networked society.
Page 35 of 75
Page 36 of 75
diversity of ideas,
opinions, & perspectives
weak social ties
diversity
communities
of practice
rk
wo
u
t lo
ou
work &
projects
le
n
ar
u
t lo
ou
opportunity-driven
& cooperative
Beyond Hierarchies
We are seeing growing complexity both inside and outside the enterprise. In this
complex and connected world we cannot predict outcomes, but we can engage
our environments and markets and then learn by doing. This makes constant learning a critical business skill. It requires do-it-yourself learning as well as social learning skills. How can we help people in the organization develop these skills?
Providing good tools and teaching by example is a start. While communication
does not equal collaboration, social media have the potential to support emergent work practices. In changing complex environments it is not much use to rely
on previous best practices. Social networks can provide a space to develop new
practices. How these tools get used is itself an emergent practice, but if workers
are not allowed to practice, nothing will emerge.
Page 37 of 75
Page 38 of 75
the work context according to the changing conditions and work on building
consensus.
Three major external forces and trends are driving organizational change.
1. Technology is changing Expectations of what is possible.
2. Globalization is changing Value Creation from tangible to intangible,
as culture gets digitized.
3. Social Media are changing Relationships to a universally connected
world.
We can see that the way we manage our organizations is largely ineffective for
the complex challenges we face, whether driven by the environment, demographics, economics, or politics. The Internet has connected markets, competitors, customers, and suppliers. With an external environment that is highly connected, organizations have to get connected inside.
A networked enterprise needs to be organized more like the Internet, and less
like a tightly controlled machine. While hierarchies are practical to get work done,
they should not be the overarching structure for the organization. There is still a
need for responsibility and accountability, but authority has to be distributed to
deal with complex problems.
We know that complex problems require the sharing of tacit knowledge, which
cannot easily be put into a manual. We also know that tacit knowledge flows best
in trusted networks. This trust promotes individual autonomy and can become a
foundation for organizational learning, as knowledge is freely shared. But without
trust, few people are willing to share their knowledge.
Page 39 of 75
Page 40 of 75
support relationships
social
networks
connect
solve
innovate
perpetual beta
personal
knowledge
mastery
create value
share expectations
initiate
change
share
Page 41 of 75
Page 42 of 75
Page 43 of 75
is our part of the social learning contract. Without effective PKM at the indi-
Page 44 of 75
Page 45 of 75
PKM has been described as a way of cleaning out my crap filters so the right
information can come through so I dont feel overwhelmed with information.
When we work in networks, one of our main jobs is getting stuff out of our heads
and sharing with others. PKM is about getting things done in networks. Innovation
in networks is not so much about having ideas as it is about making connections.
PKM gives you a framework to develop a network of people and sources of information that you can draw from on a daily basis. It a process of filtering, creating
and discerning so that you spend less time answering email or finding that great
presentation you saw, and more time focused on being a better practitioner of
your craft.
Page 46 of 75
Seek>Sense>Share
Seek
Search engines are probably the way most people find most information. If so,
one should at least learn how to use advanced search techniques. Just put this
term in a search engine, and you will find several resources, such as the Google
Advanced search page. But as more of us connect online, the most valuable
sources of information are through trusted knowledge networks. Too often, our
information searching techniques are rather primitive. Consider prairie-dogging
for example, which is standing up in your cubicle and asking those close to you
for advice. It is rather hit and miss and dependent on who works nearby and happens to be listening. Quite often, those closest to you are not the best sources of
knowledge.
Here are some information and knowledge-seeking methods.
Asking: As writer and curator Maria Popova says, I really believe our own curiosity is our greatest and most powerful tool for personal growth.
Reading: There is still a need to read in our digital age. Longer reads, and particularly fiction. Reading novels can make us better thinkers.
Listening: Whether it is in person, on audio, or a video, listening gives us a chance
to absorb what others have to say. Too often, our workspaces do not allow
this. Listening is a skill that takes practice.
Observing: One learns best by observing from the edge, not the centre. Find the
edge of the action and observe from there.
Page 47 of 75
Australian innovation specialist Tim Kastelle has described two ways of filtering
information; either through mechanical means or from people. Google is a mechanical filter that uses an algorithm, based on enormous amounts of data analysis, to provide relevant search results. Sites such as Digg and Reddit use heuristics to show what has been voted as the most popular or interesting. Either of
these types of filtering are good to quickly find information but their scale means
that context is often lost.
Using people to filter information provides more context, but takes more effort
to set up. Nave filtering is what too often happens in our knowledge searching.
It is like prairie-dogging, or standing up in your cubicle and asking those close to
you for advice. It is rather hit and miss and dependent on who works nearby and
happens to be listening. Expert filtering works in areas where knowledge is more
stable, but in an interconnected, interdependent, digital world we have to ask,
who are the experts? Still, good experts are valuable and you can use platforms
like Twitter to connect to them. For deep knowledge of an area, networked expertise can be sought through a group-sourced information resource or linking to
existing communities of expertise/interest found on platforms such as LinkedIn.
Creating a diverse network of expertise is a core part of PKM .
Seeking in PKM is input, whereas sense-making and sharing are outputs. A blog
post could be an output of PKM , while critical thinking developed over several
blog posts, actions and conversations would be an outcome of PKM . The challenge in getting started with PKM is that the outcomes are not obvious. I recommend something simple, like social bookmarking with Delicious or Scoop.it, to
get started because the outputs are clear.
Page 48 of 75
As a seeker of knowledge, one should also be looking for others who share
their knowledge. There are two types of people one wants to find, Experts and
Connectors. Sometimes they are the same, but not always.
We should be looking for experts who are more knowledgeable or experienced
than we are in our journey. They do not have to be the experts, only further
ahead of us. People who are too far ahead of our own understanding may be difficult to comprehend, as they may use metaphors, models, and terms that we do
not understand.
Connectors can be practice partners who help keep us focused. They understand
our work or life context. For example, you may be interested in knowledge management but also work in the legal field, which has some special requirements.
Finding someone who discusses issues particular to your field may help you
make connections in your own sense-making.
In seeking out knowledge connections, it becomes very important to ensure
diversity of opinions and perspectives, or one can wind up in what is known as an
echo chamber. The diversity of both what one seeks and who one shares with
have a significant impact on the quality of sense-making processes.
Page 49 of 75
high sharing
Connector
Catalyst
high
sensemaking
low
sensemaking
Consumer
Expert
low sharing
Page 50 of 75
Sense
Once upon a time ... in the future.
By the second decade of the 21st century, the nature of work had
changed. Even so-called knowledge workers were being regularly
downsized, as the corporations called it. A lot of work was getting
automated but a few creative, and lucky, people became almost
overnight successes. Many others were able to carve out new niches
in this connected economy by getting rid of the middlemen and going
straight to their customers, who were now all over the world. Work was
getting more complex. But how could people make sense of it all? Part
of the answer was in taking control of their learning and professional
development, once the sole purview of institutions. Another part of
the answer was in connecting with other, like-minded, and interested
professionals. Those who succeeded were able to seek and build new
knowledge networks in order to make sense of the changing environment,
and then share with their new peers, scattered across the globe.
Whether you call yourself a knowledge artisan or are just trying to keep up with
your profession, you have to take charge of your own learning and development.
Start by asking what value you can add.
Remember when someone older than you first got an email account? They
probably sent you at least one joke, and it was likely to a long list of recipients.
Actually, they probably sent a lot of jokes. There is a similar phenomenon with
Page 51 of 75
social media. While it may not be jokes, we are inundated with over-sharing of
the same stuff.
First of all, there is a difference between sharing and making something public.
Posting a social bookmark to a service like Delicious does not create additional
noise for your peers in a social network. This is making your work public. But
posting your latest collection of webpages in an activity stream like Twitter or
Yammer is public sharing. Doing it poorly adds more noise than signal in working
out loud.
For example, I passed on a tagged collection of social bookmarks as a result of
a conversation in an online community of practice. I shared this tag when the
occasion arose. I did not post every time I created a new bookmark. This is called
discernment, or knowing when and with whom to share.
As good social learners, sharing is not as important as knowing when to share.
This does not preclude us from collecting lots of information (Seek), but it should
make us consider appropriate ways to share. We should be ready to share when
the time is right.
The most important and difficult part of PKM is sense-making. Little should be
shared if there has been no value added. The value I added when sharing my
bookmarks was not so much in terms of adding my own insights, which were
negligible, but there was value in the timing. The context for sharing was optimal.
There are some people who are very good online curators. Both Maria Popova at
brainpickings.org and Robin Good at MasterNewMedia.org demonstrate how to
add value through their curation. Maria provides detailed insights and comments
while Robin uses scoop.it where he always adds his perspective. Follow their
examples of adding value.
Page 52 of 75
Thinking of adding value should be the first stage in PKM , or any professional
online sharing. That value could be just parking things for easy retrieval. It is definitely not filling activity streams with massive amounts of unwanted information.
Find ways to separate signal and noise.
I use a range of sense-making techniques, e.g. filters to separate the signal
from the noise, and techniques to validate any sources of information I
receive which I have developed over time. Although I trust my network
to feed me valid resources, it is always important to check any resources
personally to ensure they meet my own high quality control standards.
I then synthesise any new valuable pieces of information with what I
already know, asking myself does this add something key to what I already
know, does this take my own thinking forward, or does this even change my
thinking about what I already know.
Jane Hart, My Daily PKM Routine
As author Dan Pink remarked in his book To Sell is Human, in order to sell an idea,
one must be able to distill its essence, or the one percent that gives life to the
other ninety-nine percent. Understanding that one percent, and being able to
explain it to others, is the hallmark of strong minds. Sense-making is knowledge
distillation through repeated practice.
The knowledge gained from PKM is an emergent property of all its activities.
Merely tagging an article does not create knowledge. The process of seeking out
information sources, making sense of them through some actions, and then sharing with others to confirm or accelerate our knowledge are interlinked activities
from which knowledge emerges, often slowly.
Jarche.com > 2014
Page 53 of 75
Professional and enterprise social networks are becoming the norm. We have
passed the initial infatuation stage with social media and now it is time to use
them to get things done, solve problems, make connections, and improve our
creativity. Unless each person has effective sense-making processes, social business networks will be nothing more than noise amplification. Like those email
jokes most of us now snicker about, sharing without adding value is pass.
Ross Dawson, futurist and business consultant, identified five ways of adding
value to information. This is a good list to start with.
Filtering: separating signal from noise, based on some criteria.
Validation: ensuring that information is reliable, current or supported by research.
Synthesis: describing patterns, trends or flows in large amounts of information.
Presentation: making information understandable through visualization or logical
presentation.
Customization: describing information in context.
In 1936, James Mangan, a most interesting character and worth an Internet
search, identified several skills for acquiring knowledge, in his book, You Can Do
Anything.
Practice: This is absolutely critical. It is primarily through experience-performance-reflection that we learn.
Get it from yourself: Sometimes it is better to work things out for yourself than
get a quick answer from someone else.
Walk around it: Looking at something from a different perspective, especially
away from the mainstream, can give new insights.
Jarche.com > 2014
Page 54 of 75
Experiment: Use a probe make sense then respond, approach with both work
and learning.
Curator and web publisher Robin Good has identified five more curation skills,
and here is how they relate to sense-making:
Comparing: With increasing complexity, and obfuscation by competing interests, being able to compare related items becomes more valuable. Imagine if
someone could compare all your mobile telephone options in a clear, simple
way. Good comparisons are quite useful.
Finding related items: Collecting a series of resources on a subject over time can
be useful, and save others time. For example, I have several bookmarks on
shareable workspaces that I have passed on to many people interested in
starting a work commons.
Illustrating/Visualizing: Good info-graphics are very useful, but too often they
obscure. Visualizing takes great skill but can be exceptionally useful.
Evaluating: Being able to set criteria and evaluate from a neutral point of view can
add real value to what otherwise would just be data. American statistician
Nate Silver has made a living from this.
Crediting & Attributing: While attribution may just seem like a nice thing to
do, it is very important to trace how knowledge is constructed. With proper
attribution to the original source, you can then make changes if evidence or
circumstances change.
It can sometimes be difficult to see oneself as a node in multiple networks, as
opposed to a more conventional position within an organizational hierarchy. We
have become used to titles, job descriptions, and other institutional trappings.
Page 55 of 75
But network thinking (and seeing) can fundamentally change our view of hierarchical relationships.
When NASA released the photograph of the earth as seen from space, known as
the blue marble, it gave new impetus to the environmental movement, showing
our planet as a small dot in a black void. Seeing is believing. Visualization can be
a very powerful tool in sharing complex knowledge. The visualization of social
network analysis (SNA ) can give us significant new perspectives, not available
from looking at a series of data points. The SNA study of pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian news outlets showed that only one was trusted by both sides, but its
moderate position was losing hard line viewers from both sides. Seeing this
polarization may help to understand it.
The added value of using a sense-making tool like SNA to further examine information is the core of PKM . Adding value to the information in our fields helps
make our knowledge networks smarter and this is how we can collectively deal
with more complex problems. Visualization, and new metaphors, are essential
to understand systemic change. They give us new ways to describe and discuss
phenomena. In business, visualizing network relationships can give the initial
leverage of getting complex new ideas accepted into general management
thinking.
I once used value network analysis (VNA ) to help a companys research steering
group see their internal community of practice in a new light. This is a visualization technique that maps a system and looks at tangible and intangible asset
flows. For the first time, they saw it mapped as a value network, not a hierarchy.
They immediately realized that they were pushing solutions instead of listening
to their community. This was obvious when all arrows pointed toward the user
community, and no tangible or intangible value arrows pointed out. As a result,
Page 56 of 75
they decided to change their Charter and develop more network-centric practices.
Thinking in terms of networks enabled them to see their community with new eyes.
Share
We need to be reading, watching and listening to find out what is happening in
our professional fields. There are flows of conversation around us all the time. For
those of us with access to the digital surround we have no excuses not to connect. Finding conflicting viewpoints on a subject is as easy as going to Wikipedia
and reading the comments on the Talk tab on any controversial subject. The
variety and depth of our connections are indicators of how seriously we take our
sense-making efforts. Who we know helps to improve what we know.
We exchange and note ideas and information all of the time. In the age of print
we lent out or gave away books, magazines and newspapers. We exchanged
opinions, sometime without knowing it. An empty restaurant on a Saturday night
may have indicated that the locals did not think it was any good.
Conversations help us make meaning. The quality of our conversations is affected by the quality of the company we keep. If we seek out interesting people with
different ideas we may learn more and broaden our horizons.
A stock exchange is designed to help capital flow and we need to use knowledge
exchanges to allow ideas to flow. For centuries, knowledge exchanges were limited to elites but we now have access to worlds largest and most open exchange
ever created.
Author and professor Clay Shirky has brought up the concept of a cognitive surplus that is a result of the leisure time that we gained about fifty years ago. As
a society we were in a state of shock and did not have the tools to deal with all
Page 57 of 75
of this time, so television filled the void. Shirky says that television collectively
takes up about 200 billion hours in the US per year. Wikipedia only needed 10
million hours to get to where it is today as the leading online encyclopedia. We
are poised to be able to contribute to more Wikipedia-style efforts but many of
use just dont know how. Our institutions have not prepared us to be ongoing
contributors to human knowledge, as we have been led to believe that this is the
domain of experts.
In addition, Nancy Dixon looked at tacit knowledge-sharing, inspired by Rob
Cross and Lee Sproull who identified five categories of responses that can be
given by experienced workers to those needing help in seeking knowledge.
Answers: The seekers were looking for the application of facts or principles in
order to develop a solution.
Meta Knowledge: This category was about where to go to get more information
on the issue, or conversely where not to go because a certain report was
out-dated, or superficial.
Problem Reformulation: To gain meta-knowledge and/or problem-reformulation
requires the source to be willing to understand the problem as experienced
by the seeker and then shape her/his knowledge to the evolving definition of
the problem and is best served by the give and take of conversation.
Validation [also earlier identified by Ross Dawson]: Validation also provides
seekers the certainty that they have done enough background work, saving
the seeker the time it would take to gather further data.
Legitimizing: As with validation, legitimizing can save the seeker time by reducing the amount of proof or data that may need to be collected before the
client is willing to act. It also serves to head off arguments others might raise.
Jarche.com > 2014
Page 58 of 75
Page 59 of 75
Ask
Desire
Read
Listen
Observe
Mangan
Knowledge Filters
Nave
Expert
Network
Heuristic
Algorithmic
Kastelle
Comparing
Finding related Items
Illustrating/Visualizing
Evaluating
Crediting and Attributing
Good
Acquiring Knowledge
Practice
Get it from Yourself
Walk Around It
Experiment
Mangan
Adding Value
Filtering
Validation
Synthesis
Presentation
Customization
Sharing Knowledge
Put in Order
Define
Teach
Write
Reason
Mangan
Helping Seekers
Answers
Meta Knowledge
Problem Reformulation
Validation
Legitimizing
Dixon
Dawson
Page 60 of 75
PKM Tips
Begin by seeking playfully to connect with others. Be curious and willing to stray
outside your comfort zone (not your usual networks). Try new activities and test
out new tools from time to time. Dont worry about doing everything correctly.
But make sure that you go farther than just seeking new knowledge. Spend time
in sense-making and, more importantly, acting on knowledge.
Strive to make sense and be empowered through learning. Test out an expression
medium, and if it does not work for you, then try another. Find out what others
have done, as some good practices are quite old. Take regular time out for reflection. Also put yourself out there and remember that it is fine to fail. So keep
trying and think of sense-making as a craft that has to be mastered over time.
Finally, share to inspire through your work by modelling behaviours of those who
have shared and helped you. Continue to narrate your work and always try to add
value to what you share.
One of the important aspects of PKM is triage (a medical term) also known as
sorting or prioritizing. It is the ability to separate the important from the useless.
Unfortunately, what you may view as useless today could be quite important
tomorrow. It is not at all straight forward. Therefore developing good triage techniques takes time and practice.
Categorizing (seek): Once we have found something of interest or value, we will
need to categorize it. The big change with the Web is that we no longer have
to put one object in one file folder, as we did with a physical object or even on
your computer desktop. Today, everything is miscellaneous. Tags are labels
that can be attached to digital knowledge objects and an objects can have
many labels. That means that we can have as many categories as we want.
Jarche.com > 2014
Page 61 of 75
Page 62 of 75
In conducting several PKM workshops over the past few years, many participants
have added reflections on their own experiences.
There is no higher validation of your idea than others sharing it.
I have to start with myself, and model the skills
everyone will need as an individual.
I think Ive been resting on my SEEKing laurels for a bit too long. I need to
start asking for/seeking inputs from a wider array of people.
There is a risk of getting stuck in seeking and not going further into sensing
and acting on information.
I have worked in many roles in many industries and was not conscious that
with each new engagement I was breaking connections to make new ones.
PKM is not linear. As I learn, I share. As I share, I hear and see new things
from others, and as a result I learn and share
I feel as if PKM allows me to be a bit more open and creative with my ideas,
thoughts and writing; to explore and learn new things. It is opened up
a whole new world and it is just made me eager to know more. It is also
made me realise that our learning will never stop and we should get
comfortable with that idea.
So for my development it is refining the filters it is becoming smarter
about seeking. It is cleaning out my crap filters so the right information can
come through so I dont feel overwhelmed with information.
Page 63 of 75
Sense
Share
Select a
Sense-making Method
Make it Public
Page 64 of 75
Page 65 of 75
Page 66 of 75
Page 67 of 75
Implicit knowledge is best developed through conversations and social relationships. It requires trust before people willingly share their know-how. Social
networks can enable better and faster knowledge feedback for people who trust
each other and share their knowledge. But hierarchies and work control structures constrain conversations. Few people want to share their ignorance with the
boss who controls their pay cheque.
If we agree that complex and creative work are where long-term business value
lies, then learning amongst ourselves is the real work in any organization today.
In this emerging network era, social learning is how work gets done.
Becoming a successful social organization will require more than just the implementation of enterprise social technologies. Developing, supporting, and
encouraging people to use a range of new social workplace skills will be just as
important. Individual skills, in addition to new organizational support structures,
are both required.
PKM skills can help to make sense of, and learn from, the constant stream of
information that workers encounter from social channels both inside and outside
the organization. Keeping track of digital information flows and separating the
signal from the noise is difficult. There is little time to make sense of it all. We
may feel like we are just not able to stay current and make informed decisions.
PKM
tion that one can draw from on a daily basis. PKM is a process of filtering, creating, and discerning, and it also helps manage individual professional development
through continuous learning.
The mainstream application of knowledge and learning management over the
past few decades has had it all wrong. We over-managed information because it
was easy and we remain enamoured with information technology. The ubiquity
Jarche.com > 2014
Page 68 of 75
Page 69 of 75
Page 70 of 75
The more you give to your networks, the more you will receive from them. PKM
provides a way to do this in a more structured, but personal, manner. The result
is enhanced serendipity, always an advantage in a changing world.
>
Page 71 of 75
References
The Alexis de Tocqueville Tour Exploring Democracy in America
http://www.tocqueville.org/
Jon Husband
http://wirearchy.com/
NHS White Paper: The new era of thinking and practice in change and transformation
http://www.nhsiq.nhs.uk/resource-search/publications/white-paper.aspx
Thierry de Baillon
http://www.debaillon.com/
Maria Popova
http://www.brainpickings.org/
Tim Kastelle
http://timkastelle.org/
Page 72 of 75
Henry Mencken
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._L._Mencken
Robin Good
http://www.masternewmedia.org/
Ross Dawson
http://rossdawsonblog.com/weblog/archives/2010/03/5_ways_to_add_v.html
Nate Silver
http://fivethirtyeight.com/contributors/nate-silver/
>
Page 73 of 75
Colophon
Design, layout, & illustration by Christopher Mackay of Tantramar Interactive Inc.
Proof-reading by Steve Scott.
Set in Hoeer & Co.s Whitney and Mozillas Fira Mono OT.
Software:
Adobe InDesign CC 2014 page layout
OmniGraffle Professional 6.1.1 (OS X) & OmniGraffle 2.0.1 (iOS),
Adobe Illustrator CC 2014, & Adobe Photoshop CC 2014
graphics & illustrations
Smile Software PDFpen Pro 6.3.2 (OS X) & PDFpen 2.0 (iOS)
PDF-based workow
Page 74 of 75
Page 75 of 75