Stepping Stones

From Jay Cross – Informal Learning, a very timely reflection on informal learning. The free range learner term is one I first heard in reading John Abbott, a British writer, educator and innovator. 

Training is something that’s pushed on you; learning is something you choose. Many a knowledge worker will tell you, “I love to learn but I hate to be trained.” Knowledge workers thrive when given the freedom to decide how they will do what they’re asked to do. They rise or fall to meet expectations.
Reinventing the wheel, looking for information in the wrong places, and answering questions from others consumes two-thirds of the average knowledge worker’s time. Good connections vastly improve knowledge worker productivity.

Knowledge management is no longer the intellectual high ground it once was. Why? Because it didn’t work. Knowledge lives in people’s heads, not in mere words. You can no more capture true knowledge in a repository than you can trap lightening in a box. More…..