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Title:
The Knowledge Activist's Handbook - Adventures from the Knowledge Trenches
Review:
Those of you who subscribe to KM journals might be familiar with
Victor Newman's writings; he is a regular contributor to a column
in 'Knowledge Management' magazine and this book is a collection of
articles each up to 1500 words in length, divided into five themes:
(1) Developing Personal Knowledge
(2) Developing Knowledge Leadership
(3) Working with Knowledge
(4) The Organisation vs. Knowledge Management
(5) Creative Approaches and Tools.
The articles draw upon his experience as a consultant, academic and KM
practitioner, and the style of writing makes it easily accessible. The
book is not an academic tome but rather is aimed at those who want a
quick 'dip in' to the subject of knowledge management. Each article
concludes with 3-5 'implications' for the reader commenting upon the
key aspects they need to remember or do, for themselves.
Newman deliberately sets out to be controversial and challenges many
mainstream ideas in KM - I don't think that he is a paid-up member of
the 'awkward squad' but genuinely wishes to widen the debate and
provoke discussions. I like his approach and found the book an
entertaining read because it challenges some of my own thoughts and
beliefs about how best to approach knowledge management. He encourages
the reader to question their own ideas - an example, for instance, is
the commonly held view that 'knowledge is power'. Newman takes this a
step further by advocating that one should attempt to examine and
understand the kind of power involved. He says that knowledge is a
power, not power itself, and that there are other variables to
consider such as ability to apply knowledge, the knowledge context and
the marketing mix.
Newman believes that a Knowledge Activist (his use of the term
activist is based upon Honey and Mumford's 'Learning Styles
Inventory') should be counter-cultural and creative and he certainly
sets out to practice what he preaches. Many of the articles contain
personal anecdotes from his consulting experiences but because of the
length of each piece it is not possible for him to go into great
depth. I would have welcomed more detail of the projects he draws upon
to illustrate his thinking - perhaps this is an area that he could
expand upon as a subject for his next book?
Those readers who are naturally inquisitive and enjoy seeing ideas
turned on their head will find this book a useful reference tool. I
can also imagine that some of the ideas would work well in an
organisation open to having its own KM initiative challenged.
Should you wish to examine his ideas in more depth, Newman is running
an interactive masterclass on 2nd October in London during which he
will explore the application of pragmatic knowledge techniques - for
details see <http://www.ark-group.com>.
Free Pint Reviewer:
Jela is a freelance consultant, lecturer and trainer in information
and knowledge management. She has implemented KM programmes in FTSE
100 companies and in collaboration, developed 'The Integrated Learning
Model' combining traditional training with online learning and
knowledge management.
Jela presents at national and international conferences, participates
in research and facilitates discussion forums on KM and e-leadership.
Jela is the author of the Ashridge Business School Learning Guide to
Knowledge Management, a visiting lecturer at the University of
Brighton and has been invited to evaluate KM projects for the European
Commission.
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