From the turn of the 20th to the turn of the 21st centuries, humankind experienced the greatest leaps in technological advances in recorded history. From horse-drawn buggies to space travel, human intelligence and creativity took us from a plodding, linear existence to soaring, exponential possibilities. Books like Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock first chronicled this geometric explosion of knowledge to Peter Diamandis’ Bold and Abundance took us the rest of the way toward the melding of humans and machines to remake the humanity that brought us here.
No need to recount those books or to re-tread that ground here. Rather, recognize that the same human knowledge and creativity that got us here will get us there. So with the rapid acquisition of new knowledge – some estimates say knowledge now doubles every two years – it is important that we identify our journey and catalogue it individually and collectively.
We live in the greatest transfer of knowledge in all of human history.
The whole of human knowledge is a big bite for anybody, especially you and me operating in isolation. However, taken one person, one company, one organization at a time, we can preserve what we’ve done so we can replicate it. To many practitioners at the organizational level, that is a training function. But a full knowledge capture goes beyond the practical and immediate application of developing a training program for employees to continue best practices. Each organization has a history, a culture and knowledge that went before that may have lost its current relevance but not its importance. It is that broader vision of knowledge capture that this book addresses.
As we rapidly move toward artificial intelligence and computer-generated activities that simulate human functions, it behooves us more than ever to preserve the knowledge, skills and attitudes that makes us essentially human if for no other reason than to create an accurate history.
Having defined your vision and the mission, preserve corporate knowledge, assess your circumstance and judge the value of what you would labor and spend valuable resources to capture.
What valuable knowledge are you preserving?
Please comment below and tell us about your contribution to human wisdom.
Photo by Neven Krcmarek on Unsplash
Across the electromagnetic spectrum and the consciousness within humans yet untapped, there are innumerable connections with the digital world. Our minds are inextricably connected in the thoughtmosphere that exists within the flow of data, light pulses that populate cyberspace. We haven’t even begun to explore just how those spontaneous and often synchronistic data packets show up on our screens begging for the proverbial ‘click.’
Investigating the capacity we have for query and response, there are so many seeming magical relationships we have with the world of data delivery. Yet, there is a science driving the interaction, spooky action at a distance if you will, that manages the flow of our personal searches and delivers the answers (or at least options for consideration) without fail. We just don’t know when, yet as we become more aware of the interconnectedness, the operations of consciousness reveal and exquisite delivery system.
Through articles and books I’ve written, websites I’ve created and conversations I have almost daily, I seek to share this concept of consciousness being much more than we have sought to explore to date. We’ve obsessed on the outer technology and crafting increasingly interactive delivery systems, resulting in the exponential growth of information availability. I wonder if the growth curve of awareness is parallel to the information curve.
The effects of this growth in awareness in business, especially SMEs, might be a leading factor in developing more sustainable communities and even bettering our world with the missions & visions supporting learning how to get along and share the wealth our planet offers in both human and material resources. The trick is integrating our economic systems with this new millennial mindset. It is indeed a fascinating subject to me, and perhaps others.
One of the more practical ways I introduced a cursory view was through the annual conference I coordinated for the Phoenix Chapter of ATD (then ASTD) when I was President Elect, themed “Challenge to Change: Removing Liabilities, Limitations and Excuses in the Workplace” which focused on empowerment and professional growth as well as ATD’s standards.
Thanks for the opportunity to share.
Lead with Vision,
Zen Benefiel, MA, MBA
Hi Zen Ben,
Good to see you here! As usual, you bring in the outer edges of where this goes, and it is fabulous! A lot to chew on here…and love the term “thoughtmosphere”. Just that one word deserves a book.
Peggy