We’re in the age of the idea. The organizations that can develop a culture of creativity and idea generation will be the winners.
Kevin Roberts – CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi
We’re all knowledge workers. “Knowledge workers have high degrees of expertise, education, or experience, and the primary purpose of their jobs involves the creation, distribution, or application of knowledge.”[i]
Innovation is an interesting concept. I’m an engineer and have designed power plants, software, and many products. Every time I was on a project I thought I was innovating. Innovation can be seen as incremental improvement, breakthrough design, or disruptive change.
I think that personal innovation is the key to self management and career survivability over the next ten years because of the half-life of information and careers. Every discipline, function, and career has a shorter half-life. Half-life is the length of time information, or data doubles in a profession. The half-life of knowledge in electrical engineering or computer science may be 3 or 4 years. In medical specialties, it may even be shorter. Workers who don’t update their knowledge, skills, and abilities are prone to professional obsolescence or at worst functional toast.
Knowledge is applied. How many of us are knowledge workers? It’s estimated that a quarter to half of all VUCANs in North America are knowledge workers, who develop and manipulate information. These VUCANs provide the economic value and are the most critical workers to a company. Companies with the most knowledge workers usually have the highest market capitalization.
Applied knowledge is the great business differentiator and value-adder inside companies. Knowledge management may mean identifying and internalizing best practices; correcting and preventing discrepancies; fault proofing the organization; and commercializing new ideas. This asset while not on the financial books is critical to profitability as companies want to accelerate product development and profits from new products.
Work Lesson Earned: If you’re a professional who does not keep current with your profession or specialty, then you’ll be functionally illiterate and maybe unemployable. Think ‘Moore’s Law’ for professionals.
[i] Thinking for a Living, Thomas Davenport, 1997,