Preface
The Human Knowledge MindMap, the core construct of this book, was developed over a 35- year period. It was begun while I was an undergraduate in the interdisciplinary program Technology/Society/Environment (TSE) at Carleton University in the early 1970s. It has been ruminating in the back of my mind ever since I read Clarence Irving Lewis’ book MIND AND THE WORLD ORDER.
By that time (the early 1970s), the transition to a Knowledge Society was well underway, although the naming of that phenomenon had to await the coming of the personal computer and the Internet. Based on what we now know, it is obvious (to me at least) that the systematic application of knowledge to standardize social processes began during the First World War, to facilitate component compatibility and supply logistics. The major impact of this early knowledge engineering was in product and process design.
With the coming of the personal computer and the Internet, work organization and workflow began to be modified on the job, and simultaneously personalized products led to successive alterations in lifestyles. We went through phases of evolutionary development, from technology management, to data management, to information management, and most recently knowledge management. In each of these phases however, most of the expertise behind both consulting and publications referred to organizational applications. For their individual use, people either tried to apply what they learned on the job to their home computers, or they learned by reading manuals and by trial-and-error. In most cases however the on-the-job training was only partially transferred – the way most people manage their own technology, data and information is quite amateurish and sloppy. As for knowledge management, whether on-the-job or on a personal basis, many people still ask “What’s that?!”
So what is it? Knowledge consists of concepts available to process information and guide action. Knowledge Management refers to “smart use of know-how.” In a knowledge economy more and more tasks involve “think work.” Thinking involves the separation of relevant information from irrelevant information. Therefore, “think work” is a component of “knowledge work,” specifically the information processing part – the other part is the “informed action” part.
What the Human Knowledge MindMap offers to the Knowledge Economy is similar to what W. Edwards Deming offered to the Industrial Economy. Just as Deming developed a method for quality assurance for industrial output, the Human Knowledge MindMap is a method developed to provide quality assurance for knowledgeable output. When the United States shunned Deming’s approach, he was invited to Japan where he taught the kind of quality control that enabled Japanese manufacturers to successfully challenge the American domination of the global automobile and electronics markets. The knowledge-based start-up companies everywhere in the world are looking to provide the same kind of challenges in the future, and having a workforce trained in knowledge work skills will be part of their strategy!
William Sheridan