As Jerry says, Dave Pollard, does a great job in responding to your comment, at least in the first 2 parts that I’ve read.

What I might add is that in order to find and expand the organizational sweet spot every venture needs to have the right people in place. Without conscientious, responsible, and talented people there is not much hope for success no matter what changes are made.

Best,
Charlie

I’m starting a three-part series by Dave Pollard in the July issue titled:

Part I: Saving the company
How ordinary smart people will change the organization

The first of the series he describes the state of management in the US much as you suggest and calls it tragic in that it has generally failed to adopt the principles of knowledge management.

In the second of the series, he ascribes some hope to the future, suggesting that–with the changes taking place outside the organization — people will require the organization they work for to allow the freedom and democracy necessary to practice greater initiative, collaboration and innovation.

That’s way more than just saying that “KM is migrating to the shop floor.” It’s saying that the future employee will BE knowledge-driven and the company will need just that!

Jerry Ash
I publish so that people will know.

FdO

Usually it’s not appropriate to start with an apology but I will.

I did respond to Kathleen’s very supportive comments but for some strange reason I forgot to come back and reply to the other two readers of the article. So, Bill and B. Jones please accept my apologies especially since I didn’t mean to ignore you.

Bill you’re absolutely correct in pointing out that “Building relations, shooting the breeze and exchanging ideas are often important aspects of creative knowledge work.” Those are usually the occasions where most of the innovative ideas get started. Thanks for making that very astute observation.

B. Jones I also hope (and I’m sure so does Jerry Ash) that “some CEOs will read this and learn that they cannot just give lip service to the concept that ‘employees are our best asset.’ I believe the smart CEOs will not only pay attention to my observations but to lots of other experts in the knowledge advancement field who are much more intelligent than I am. Unfortunately, there are still thousands of managers around the world whose mind-sets are still stuck in the Industrial Age. I believe, however, that the tide has turned in our favor.

Thanks you again for reading my article and most importantly for having taken some time to express your thoughtful views.

With best regards,
Charlie

We will be sure Charles gets these messages and we’ll encourage him to respond.

Meanwhile, your messages are among the first and we celebrate this day because two-way communication is what a new media magazine is all about.

I’ll be choosing a few replies as a new feature starting with the July issue of Smart People. I’m sure I won’t be able to publish them all, but I will publish the ones I like best — not necessarily the best ones, but the ones that appeal most to me. For the unfiltered version, our readers can read it all online.

A Thank you isn’t good enough, so thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU.

Jerry Ash
First volunteer and publisher
Smart People magazine

Trying to get management to understand that this isn’t just a great idea….but a necessity for both employee retention and productivity is a definite challenge.

Hopefully some CEOs will read this and learn that they cannot just give lip service to the concept that “employees are our best asset” if they are to successfully move forward in the current Knowledge Age.

Building relations, shooting the breeze and exchanging ideas are often important aspects of creative knowledge work.