Gets you thinking

Image via Wikipedia

I was at the KIN MasterClass yesterday on 'Return on Investment for Intangibles'. Our guest presenter Bernard Marr, from The Advanced Performance Institute, lead a fascinating day - refreshingly not using a single PowerPoint slide.
Bernard used a famous quote from Albert Einstein that really summed up what ROI should be about:
'Not everything that can be counted, counts and not everything that counts can be counted'

That reminded me of another favourite quote from Douglas Adams that seems remarkably prescient having been written in 1999:

1) everything that’s already in the world when you’re born is just normal;

2) anything that gets invented between then and before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and creative and with any luck you can make a career out of it;

3) anything that gets invented after you’re thirty is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it until it’s been around for about ten years when it gradually turns out to be alright really.

Sharing Modes

Image by Ed Yourdon via Flickr

The recent KIN Summer workshop took a detailed look at 'The Psychology of Knowledge Sharing'. Russell Davies has just posted a great blog post on this topic referring to Clay Shirky's assertion that there are fundamental differences in behaviour, cost and motivation behind sharing products, sharing services and sharing information.

"Sharing Goods - the hardest to do, because if you give a physical good you no longer have it, you're deprived of it.

Sharing Services - like giving helping someone across the road - you don't lose out on physical stuff but it's an inconvenience.

Sharing Information - like giving someone directions - you don't lose stuff, it doesn't take much time, no inconvenience".

If you want to know more, take a look at 'Why We Cooperate' from MIT Press.

Knowledge Assets

The theme of our December workshop is '21st Century Knowledge Assets'. As usual, we a researching this topic to ensure a thought-provoking event. And in the time-honoured tradition of KM we would like to tap into the collective wisdom of our members. The question we have for you is - "What are your favourite examples of innovative and/or engaging knowledge assets either internal to your organisation or external".

As an example:

Some of you may already have see the 'Instructables' website. For those that haven't, here is a knowledge asset 'How to add a USB outlet to your car' from that website.

Notice that they have links to related Knowledge Assets. Notice especially that the Knowledge Asset is not static. The comments allow users to chip in with their observations, use cases, tips, hints and modifications. You can easily share it via Twitter, Facebook or email. You can download it as a pdf. You can even embed it in another webpage (see below)

Ignoring the adverts (they have to make money somehow!) how many of your Knowledge Assets are like this?


Add a USB Power Outlet in Your Car - More DIY How To Projects