Knowledge skills are increasingly important due to the pace of change in knowledge.
We know that staying current cannot rely solely on formal training. This is both because we seldom have the time and resources to stop our work in order to learn and because the pace of change is faster than our ability to capture and codify it as formal knowledge.
The notion that I can know in myself what I need to know is no longer an ideal. Instead, we develop networks and activities to ensure we can access and contribute to the most-current knowledge. We look for knowledge sources that provide currency, authority, and speed of access.
Some of us remain frustrated with abundance. Yet, we have learned to accept that abundance is not dysfunctional. It means one won’t read or know everything. The many available depersonalized, electronic channels (such as the keyword-based newsletters and searchable online databases that some of us depend on) are necessary but not sufficient to achieve currency. The most immediately useful and timely information often arrives through our network of trusted peers, prescribed by no one.
Photo: Ebb & Flow (Alistair Nicol/flickr.com)