I’m very keen to help develop knowledge transfer culture and structures within businesses, and between groups. This particularly applies between generations. The senior expert members of an industry obviously need to transfer their knowledge to the up-and-coming experts of the future.

Knowledge transfer is, fundamentally, a way to contribute to the success of others.

So, a knowledge transfer effort is not about the ‘knower’. It is about helping someone else succeed. Perhaps, deep down, that is harder for experts to understand than we think – someone else’s success.

An effective knowledge transfer effort means that someone else succeeds because of it.

We don’t often focus on the moments when we’re learning (unless we’re in a paid training session). Of course, we should be learning all the time, and we also should be teaching at every opportunity as well.

Through our days, there is passive and active reading (differentiated by note taking effort) which are low learning efforts. Better engagement occurs with constructive learning which includes reflection, querying, and re-wording. Most effective is teaching it to others – that is when deep learning takes place.

This is known as the ICAP Framework (Interactive, Constructive, Active, Passive), oddly listed backwards in terms of effectiveness.

Projects can be complicated; they are rarely simple. It’s counter-intuitive, but small projects sometimes unexpectedly need as much planning, organisation, time and attention as the large ones.

An important understanding for any size of project is the expected objectives, and the required deliverables. It’s common to conflate the two.

Objectives are changes, like improved business processes or reduced amount of rework. Objectives are harder to measure, but when they are achieved, the project is a success.

Deliverables are things, like design drawings, or a whole house. Sometimes the deliverable is the output, sometimes deliverables are inputs to achieving the objective.

Millions of workers are now facing a logistics issue that I have grappled with for several years – and not yet solved. The WFH conversation is mostly about fatigue and mindset and burnout – all relatable and real.

But the fatigue not talked about is the figuring out of where the stuff is. When you can work from two locations (say, a home office or business district office), you almost need two complete set ups. Two cameras, two headsets, two laptops and screens. Two notebooks! Either that or carry your entire office with you on your commute. Try that on a bicycle.

A colleague friend of mine doesn’t like the either/or scenario of two. When creating new idea or considering possible solutions, he always encourages thinking beyond not just the first one, but the second one as well, aiming for three.

It’s a strategy that has helped bring out the best idea or solution, being that third one. Two just isn’t enough. A third breaks the tie, breaking open something completely new.

That third thing is usually a stretch. It’s like the last few reps with a heavier weight. Pushing through past the two and into threes is where the results are.

Projects in organisations differ from operations or service departments because of a couple of characteristics: they have a start and a finish; and there is a scope, budget and schedule attached to them.

The field of project management is rife with expertise, advice, theories and terminology. And it’s almost impossible to do knowledge work without managing projects, large or small, at some point in a career.

Most of us face small projects, with a scope, budget and schedule attached to them, every day. Approaching some of the everyday tasks like a project will build skills that transfer to larger projects.

The minutiae (the trivial details) of a day can fill quite a bit of cognitive space. One kind of minutiae is, shall we call it, ‘hygiene’, which is the daily grind of keeping ourselves healthy and presentable with clean clothes and clean teeth.

The minutiae of a job is another kind of cognitive load, sometimes called “admin”. I have a time block for “admin” most days, but it seems it’s never enough. It has helped, though, to corral that minutiae into its own block, rather than tackling it randomly throughout the day. Differentiating minutiae from essentials is an ongoing challenge.

#100wordsaday

People involved in executing large, complex projects know that feeling in the middle of it. It’s a feeling of constant overwhelm, while we’re facing impossible deadlines, cost overruns, inevitable cost cuts, questionable quality, and uncertain outcomes. There’s a point when we wonder if it will ever be finished.

But in the end, most projects do finish. After a while, most of the stress and drama that went before is forgotten. So perhaps the value of dwelling on it now is diminished, thinking ahead to when the job is done. Today will be in the ‘before’, and won’t matter so much.

#100wordsaday

I have a set strategy to tackle document reviews efficiently.

First, I confirm the number of pages. With that, I can estimate a realistic timeslot. For typical technical documents, 30 pages takes me about an hour. In my calendar, that time is blocked.

I read the table of contents to understand the structure. I remind myself of the purpose of the review (comment, approval, initial draft) – this has an impact on the approach.

The final trick is to also allow enough additional time to actually write the comments or editorials. I’ve been caught by how much time that step takes.

#100wordsaday

If you understand something, it’s a synonym to say you comprehend it. There are many ways to gain knowledge (comprehension): by reading, listening, observing, and practising.

Reading is probably one of the most common and most important methods of gaining comprehension.

Reading for comprehension for long periods of time isn’t easy. It uses a lot of energy, surprisingly, the way it taxes your brain. Longform reading also sharpens your ability to take information in, process it and reason with it. Reading is like running – you can’t run 5km on day one; similarly, reading for a long time needs practise too.

#100wordsaday

I’ve read James Clear’s “Atomic Habits”, I’ve followed B.J. Fogg’s “Tiny Habits”, and yes, I can do all the things needed to develop habits. The science is defendable, and the proof has been observed on this experiment of N = 1 (me).

Habits mean instinctive regularity. For many habits, that means every day. And if you miss a day, they say, well, don’t miss two in a row. But, supporting some good habits (exercise, reading, contacting a friend) every day, which involve a not insignificant amount of time each, doesn’t seem to leave much time for a non-habit (spontaneous) life.

#100wordsaday

One way to outsource value-adding knowledge work is to send a long wordy email and finish it with “Thoughts?”

By doing that, the sender is getting a task off of their to-do list (win!), and on to someone else’s. The cognitive load of that issue is now no longer with the sender, but is now with the receiver.

It helps to more specific about what ‘thoughts’ are being requested. Summarise, use short sentences, and get to the point. If you know something, show you know it. Don’t pass the chance off to someone else to show what they know instead.

#100wordsaday

Information is not the same as knowledge.  These days, we all skim the surface a bit, skimming and taking information in, all the time. 

To add value to information and convert it to knowledge takes effort. Knowledge is deeper, wider.  Knowledge means you’ve considered another view, even a contrarian view, to check that information is sound.

Taking information, and copy-pasting it into another document without adding value is not knowledge work, that’s just admin.  We can’t claim to do knowledge work if we’re not adding value to what we do.  It may be easy to copy-paste, but it’s not better.

#100wordsaday

Many city councils around the world try to solve traffic problems by adding more lanes for cars, and building more roads, bridges, and tunnels. It’s fairly well accepted that those ‘improvements’ only mean more people start using the roads, and they jam up again.

Similar to attempting to reduce traffic jams by adding more lanes, our available communication modes – traffic lanes for keeping in touch - have increased remarkably. Now communications traffic flows much more easily. So that reduced friction means that we communicate more, in more ways … and subsequently creating another kind of traffic jam, in our heads.

#100wordsaday

It’s hard for a credentialed person to say, “I don’t know”. Many years ago, a co-worker asked if I could help him design his concrete garage flooring. It was really hard to admit, “I don’t know how to do that anymore” – because, doesn’t every civil engineer know that? Alas, not this one.

With a credential that points to expected knowledge, it’s even harder to say. And so, there’s a choice: admit it (‘I don’t know’), or, go figure it out. That’s ok too, in some circumstances, especially if you want to learn. But it should start with “I don’t know”.

#100wordsaday

There’s a current culture around striving to be ‘authentic’.  Be true to yourself; allow yourself to be yourself.  It’s about not bending to others’ views or interests in order to fit in. 

These are valid goals.  It’s certainly good to strive for authenticity.  It’s not good to  conform to a culture you don’t fit into; that’s not being authentic.

Seth Godin has identified a better goal:  be consistent.  If you’re claiming authenticity, by default then you have to also be consistent.  If you can’t be consistent with your ‘authentic’ behaviour, then it’s not authentic. 

Consider consistency when striving for authenticity.

#100wordsaday

I was engrossed in the book I was reading.  “I’ll just take this”, he interrupted, gesturing at the barstool I was using for my coffee and my feet.  It felt a bit abrupt, but I gave it over.

See, to him, it was obvious.  No other seats were available, and I was using one to hold  my coffee.  Had I  looked up at any point before he spoke, I would’ve noticed the lack of seats, and obviously would’ve offered it, because it was so obvious.

What you think is obvious at any point, might not yet be obvious to another.

#100wordsaday

It was strange that I showed up for the AGM for a running club I’m a member of, but haven’t yet participated in an event, so no one knew me. It’s also strange that I go to networking events alone and go with the intention to meet new people.

Strange is the epitome of diversity. If encouraging diversity, you also have to be the first one to welcome the strange one, the one who isn’t following protocols or who looks out of place. That’s diversity. Bring it on but play your part. Don’t leave the diverse (strange) one standing alone.

#100wordsaday

The world moves pretty fast… if you don’t stop and take a look around, you might miss it. That quip from the Ferris Bueller movie from 1986 came into my mind as I thought about the need to take time to ‘go blank’. So even back then, over 30 years ago, there was a suggestion that life moves too fast, and it’s important to slow down now and then.

There is something to the idea of spending time not thinking, not reading, not answering emails. Whether it’s meditating, being mindful, or going blank – it gives your mind time to recover.

#100wordsaday

In manufacturing, tracing failed products is part of the quality control process. There are statistical analyses done regularly to find out where flaws in the process are. Once that is determined, a program is put in place to rectify them. Rework is costly, inefficient, and bad for business.

The same applies for knowledge work: any time a report or drawing goes around the review cycle multiple times, that’s effectively rework. Worse, when the wrong drawing goes to site and is used before the mistake is discovered: that’s costly rework.

Review procedures and document control are key processes in avoiding rework.

#100wordsaday