Well-Rounded Knowledge Management

This week's post is fairly short, but it addresses a problem we see more and more.  There is a speed with which information goes past us, and our ability to grasp it is inversely proportional with its velocity.  In order to foster a sense of connectivity to our knowledge, and to round out the development of both KM and the person, I submit that practitioners should routinely read books and other, tangible matter.  There is far too much to disturb, there are far too many 'blinky-lights' on the typical on-line piece.  In addition, if you didn't catch the article on Slate this week regarding blatant plagiarism, there is something complete about an original source.

So without further ado, I challenge anyone reading this (if anyone does - I have no proof it happens) to put together a list of the next ten printed pieces of material you will read, and also WHY you find them important to read.  That challenge laid out, if anyone will send me their list I will try to aggregate a microcosm of recommended books to read and will post it later on for all to benefit from.  Send any lists to ctuite@bsu.edu.  To get the ball rolling, here is my list:

1) Hostage at the Table - will be read to enhance negotiating skills

2) The 21 Indispensible Qualities of Leaders - these will be turned into reminders I will post to myself

3) Don't Eat the Marshmallow...Yet - this was recommended by Kevin Eikenberry, a trainer and motivator whose advice I respect

4) An Innocent Man - I saw that John Grisham wrote this piece of non-fiction, and was intrigued because of his skill

5) ACIF Indexing with Content Manager On Demand - I will read this, because I will NOT lose to a machine

6) The Lucifer Effect - I am interested in the things that happen within an organization that turn normal people into conniving individuals. even when survival is not at stake

7) Death By Meeting - Patrick Lencioni has a brilliant way of telling a story that illustrates a point; in my book, he does the best job of this since Eliyahu Goldratt did his 'The Goal', and if you have no clue about that, hie thee quickly to yon used bookseller forthwith!

8) The Levity Effect - because life and work tend to get too serious

9) Against the Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob - if you want to know where you are, you had better study those with differing opinions than yours, to make sure you understand your terrain (remember what we learn from Sun Tzu, and if you have never read 'The Art of War', go read it first before anything comes along and wipes you out, in a business sense); this book is written from the viewpoint that advances in online technology are not necessarily good, and techies need to bear the lessons in mind.

10) Thinking for a Living: How to Get Better Performances and Results from Knowledge Workers - I don't supervise people directly, but I do have to coordinate efforts, and am ultimately whose name is either positively seen, or universally cursed, at the end of the KM work that I do, and without the limitation of having a 'stick' to beat people with, the freedom to learn to motivate and collaborate allows me to do a lot more than would otherwise be possible.