Waaaayyyy back before global pandemic lockdown, the Wall Street Journal published a study that stated “In This Economy, Quitters are Winning”. The economy was so strong, said WSJ in the summer of 2018, that people were quitting jobs at a rate that broke all previous records. They were quitting because there were bluer skies everywhere. Higher pay, better conditions, more suitable and “satisfying work”.

Did a virus change the underlying economic conditions? Actually, no. The virus, and our lockdown reaction to it, created an artificial lull. Actually, this lull has accelerated the underlying economic conditions. Our country, and our world, have been moving to the 4^th Industrial Revolution for some time and now we are in Warp Speed (to borrow a phrase).

Back in 2015, I tapped into this trend and wrote a little book called 30 Days to the New Economy: Your Role in History as an Entrepreneur. When I reviewed it a few months ago, I realized that it was prescient. So, with a few tweaks and a post-COVID foreward, I am reissuing it. In this little ebook, I discuss the conditions that have created vast opportunity today and the characteristics you want to embody to maximize this unprecedented chance to stake your claim. At the suggestion of friend of this blog, Dick Sakulich (whose work you sometimes see featured here), I renamed it 30 Days to Success in the New Economy. The ebook update is available on Amazon today, and it will soon be issued in paperback by Balboa Press.

Thus Spoke Diamandis

One of my favorite thinkers, writers, business men today is Peter Diamandis. He gave us things like the X-Prize and hangs out with Ray Kurzweil of Singularity fame. If you want to know where the world is going, check out his work. So I was thrilled when I read his latest email the other day where he discussed why now is the best time to be an entrepreneur. He cited these three trends:

1. Changes to behavior patters
2. Existing trends are accelerating
3. Lots of available talent & assets.

To that I say, “Yup.” You can go to his blog here. Peter tied in the virtual work environment, the rapid uptake of online education and telehealth as three proofs that we’ve left the old work paradigm in the dust.

The New Work and Life Paradigm

When patterns change and new ones take shape, entrepreneurial people are all over that. If you are entrepreneurially-minded, you see nothing but fields of diamonds because this shift is creating new needs and new wants. And wherever there are needs and wants, there are markets.

• Retired teachers are offering tutoring services to overwhelmed work-from-home parents
• Stay-cations mean homes are getting bigger not smaller, backyards are becoming havens and the building boom has caused a lumber shortage
• Close personal proximity opened up a whole new segment of work for couples’ therapists…and divorce lawyers
• Bicycling, camping and online yoga classes expanded the exercise clothing and equipment market
• Online groceries and wine clubs are necessities for those who cannot or choose not to go out to shop
• Pet adoptions are on the rise leading to a boutique pet industry (blueberry facials for your hound, anyone?)

Look at your own life and your own adaptations to recognize how needs and wants are changing.

You Decide the Future

Creative people see patterns and connect dots that others cannot imagine. Entrepreneurs are creatives and they are also builders. They blend imagination and energy to create something new.

I encourage you – the creatives and builders – to take advantage of this opportunity to get out your imaginary shovel and take a hand in what this 4^th Industrial Revolution will bring forth. Because you will decide the kind of world we live in when we emerge from the shadows of the virus.

In celebration of the audio version of Retaining Expert Knowledge: What to Keep in an Age of Information Overload, I am giving away 3 copies of the audiobook. If you would like one, please email me at workingwithsmes@gmail.com and I will send you a code  so you can access your complementary copy. It is also still available in hard copy.

I occasionally hear from readers of my blog or the books who are out there working with experts in every imaginable field and type of industry. You are all out there, gathering information for training, for organizational continuity, and just “for the record”.

Some of you, it seems, feel like you are working in a vacuum. You are trying to figure out what to capture, who and where to gather your institutional knowledge and how to store it. And people are doing amazing jobs. I am always fascinated to hear the breadth and depth of the kinds of work you are doing, and who you are doing it for. Global companies. Governments. Non-profits.

Experts in a Vacuum

I have found two types of vacuums when working with experts. One is the person or people tasked with collecting knowledge who are feeling like they are inventing processes from the ground up. (Actually, you are in many ways because of the unique nature of many of your situations.)

The other type of vacuum is when you are working with an expert in a field of their own. Sometimes experts really are the only ones who know exactly how something is done that is particular to your need. And that kind of vacuum can be daunting for people gathering information for a few reasons:

1. You only have one source of information – your expert
2. You have nothing to backstop you on the veracity of the information
3. The people around the expert – and there are always people around the expert – may have alternative viewpoints or a completely different view of reality and you either a) don’t have access to them/don’t know they exist or b) can’t bypass the expert to check reality against the people around them.

If the last few paragraphs seem a bit arcane to you, they don’t relate to your situation so not to worry.

But if the last few paragraphs have hit a nerve with you, you understand the discomfort of working with experts in a vacuum. Even under the best circumstances, with good access and relationship, there are pieces you just don’t know and may never be able to pressure test against reality.

If you are working in a vacuum, don’t worry. You aren’t the only one. You are doing the best you can. Your work is appreciated or will be by those who come after you. And, if you are lucky, your work is also appreciated by the expert you are getting to know.

Do you ever feel like you are working in a vacuum?

ITMPI Webinar this Thursday, October 18 at 11  a.m.

The IT Metrics and Productivity Institute is featuring a webinar on Retaining Expert Knowledge this Thursday, October 18. In it, we’ll focus on the difference between Traditional and NextGen experts, and the value that they bring to your organization individually and together.

Register at this link. I hope to see you there!

For the Next 2 Weeks, Read Retaining Expert Knowledge Online

My publisher, Taylor & Francis, is doing a trial program for people to read books online so you can try before you buy. T&F’s  C&C imprint publishes professional and academic books. As part of this initiative, it is making new books available for a limited time so that potential institutional and corporate buyers are able to see the product before they buy.

Below are ways readers have been able to use the promotional advance glimpse at the book:
❏         Request their library purchase a copy
❏         Consider the book for course adoption or further reading
❏         Cite the book in future publications
❏         Share the link with their own network to widen dissemination
❏         Consider writing a book review on amazon or for a journal

I am happy to be able to offer this opportunity to my email list. Let me know if you use the link so we can ask for similar opportunities again.

Click here to read Retaining Expert Knowledge.

  Sometimes, this is true. So, how can you help quiet people share their ideas?

Bias is part of the human experience. We are biased in our choices of people, places, things, and thoughts. Often, those biases are just harmless shortcuts to making everyday decisions based on experience or personal preference. In business, those biases can short-circuit logical decision making.

But they don’t have to.

From “Why Our Brains Fall for False Expertise, and How to Stop It,” author Khalil Smith tells us that often it is the tallest, loudest, or the boss’s pet who gets the attention in a meeting and therefore holds the decision-making power. Those biases tend to lead to sub-optimal decisions.

Smith, who heads the diversity and inclusion practice at the NeuroLeadership Institute, wrote last week in Strategy+Business that “biases are human- a function of our brains – and falling for them doesn’t make us malicious. [However,] with the right systems, tools and awareness in place, we can better cultivate the best ideas from the most well-suited minds.”

Here are a few ways to avoid the pitfalls of natural human bias:

1. Set up “if-then” plans. If the dominant and most charismatic person’s ideas are being adopted in a meeting, then set up some space between the discussion and the decision by adjourning and polling others for their input. Their impressions might reframe the decision.
2. Get explicit, and get it in writing. Write out the process by which you came to a decision. “We decided X, which led us to conclude Y, which is why we are going with Z.” You can revisit this document later to evaluate what worked and what didn’t.
3. Incentivize awareness. Encourage employees who detect flaws and celebrate the “mistake of the month.” Error detection helps de-stigmatize a situation and provides learning opportunities that lead to better decisions next time.
4. Set up buffers. Create a cooling off period between the time you receive information and the time you make a big decision. You might have time for a 10 minute walk or -better yet – for reconvening the next day to discuss issues that may have been overlooked.
5. Cut the cues. Find a process that removes the person from the idea. When you are brainstorming, have people submit ideas anonymously so the strength of the idea, rather than the status of the person, can be evaluated on its own merit.

Personality may win the day in many cases, and it can be appropriate at those times. Expertise, however, cannot be easily replaced and should not be ignored when you are making the big decisions for your business. With a few simple moves, you can make sure the short and quiet people get their ideas in front of you, too.

To read this strategy+business article in full, click here.

In today’s episode of the Working with SMEs podcast, co-host Nathan Eckel and I discuss the expansion of the C-Suite, and in particular the value of adding a Chief Learning Officer to the mix. A CLO integrates and elevates talent development and knowledge management functions into the long-term business plan. A trainer and learning professional at the head table brings a lot to the party when they become experts in the business and the industry.

In a little less than 12 minutes, we talk about the practical and the theoretical aspects of a CLO position. A great C-Suite does not just “think” ahead of the curve because change is no longer linear. Rather, change is exponential so a great CLO helps colleagues “dream” ahead of the curve.

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