I recently read a short piece that questioned the concept of Best Practices. This really resonates with me.
Often I am persuaded to write best practices as summaries to my work, for example in case studies. However I tend to agree with David Gurteen, author of the ’Knowledge Letter’: ”Instead of looking at best practice, focus your attention on the particularities of your situation, trying to understand all the factors at work, not just those prescribed in your model or best practice. Reflect on how your own participation is affecting, and is affected by, the way these factors are playing out in your organisation. That way you can help to make sure your attention is on what really matters so much more than a best practice or model. Ask how you or others are interacting with each other and influencing each other in the process of getting the work done.” In other words “think for yourself!”
This philosophy is important for my work. Rather than directing the communities I am working with to follow the best practices of those before them, I am trying to encourage them to use the lessons as a guide but decide their own activities and future. Innovation means tweaking the norm and taking risks. As David Gurteen says, it means thinking for yourself. I can support that.
In this exclusive interview, social media expert Euan Semple breaks social media down into easy to understand terms and explains not only why every business should at least have a look at social media but also how they can make a start without the need of employing expensive agencies and IT professionals.
I am buying my first house. I am told by family and friends that this is one of the biggest decisions I will make in my life. Given I am shy of long term commitments, they are correct. The two key words I think about in learning about buying a house are Trust and Knowledge Management.
Trust is very important in buying an old house. If one doesn’t know much about homes, building or renovations, one needs to trust the people who hold this knowledge.
The realtor is the interface between your new house and the buyer. The agent should look out for your best interest and help get you what you want. After this, you have the home inspector, the potential contractors and builders and friends who help you assess if the house is solid, fixable, and a good buy. If these people are strangers to you, family might come into play and add their two cents based on experience.
Knowledge Management is very important in several ways.
First, in order to have the full picture of the house you are buying you need to draw on several sources. Using relationships and networks to find people you trust to provide input builds confidence in the decision making process.
Second, online research is important to ground truth information. If there is a lack of trust in any of the people you rely on to make the purchase decision, online resources provide background information, provincial regulations and additional questions to consider.
My situation has been mixed. I am using my networks to bring as much information to the table as possible so I can make an informed decision. When in doubt, I find more human and online resources to verify my thinking. I am learning that trust is essential in making a large purchase decision. However, it really boils down to gut instincts and the rest is justification for rationale minds!
In 2003, I wrote my master’s thesis on Canada’s Youth Summit Team. This was a select group of diverse, geographically representative youth helping Canada’s government and young people prepare for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002).
After two years of volunteering on the project with the United Nation’s Association in Canada and then researching and writing a thesis about the experience, I am pleased that others might share and learn from my reflections.
The book will be launched at the forthcoming 12th General Conference of the Association of African Universities (AAU) in Abuja, Nigeria from May 4 – 9, 2009 and the 5th World Congress on Environmental Education (WEEC 5) from May 10-14, 2009 in Montreal, Canada.
If you are having a hard time keeping up with changes in technology, information, life…welcome to the club. This short video from YouTube posts numbers to tell us exactly what is taking place on planet Earth. It’s amazing how information is moving faster than ever and how that influences our lives. Well worth the five minutes to view!!
I often try and create conversation in my work as I truly believe that is how knowledge is shared. Conversations are filled with stories and many great leaders use these stories to influence change.
Steve Jobs gave a speech at a Stanford University convocation and it’s posted on YouTube. He used three distinct stories that had great lessons to get his message across. These stories were personal, told with I and very real.
Storytelling is powerful and this little clip clearly demonstrates that. Try it!
Have you ever felt that technology and the internet are always one step ahead? Over the last few days I have dipped my toe in new waters and discovered a world of internet collaboration options. I have linked my blog content to a larger site that houses many bloggers all writing on a similar topic. It is like a clearinghouse for information on Communities and Network Connections.
As a participant I was asked to post a few things on my blog to help the searching and keyword capabilities. After some technical difficulties, I managed to upload my new features – check out the key words option as it is quite cool. You can see on the right side of my blog that it picks up words I use a lot and links them to blog entries on the subject. These are grouped on the Communities and Network Connections site which is bringing together content from all different blogs.
I am interested to see how this social experiment plays out. I am not sure about how it will actually ‘build community’ yet but I already found interesting information in the blogs sitting together by topic areas on the main site. Thanks to Nancy White for inviting me to play. Learning lots already!!
