How to
Transfer Knowledge (download zipped Word 6.0 version) Rick Dove, Paradigm Shift International, www.parshift.com, |
Were going to talk about a way to transfer new knowledge quickly
and effectively to a another person or into a work group. We will assume for the moment
that the people involved want to learn the new knowledge, and save the motivational issues
for another time. Ever read one of those science fiction books where people have electronic sockets behind their ears? When you want to see a movie you plug in a chip. When you want to be an expert in something you plug in a different chip. An article called Silicon Eyes in Business Week (10/28/98) heralds the uses of new electronic vision chips. Recent experiments with a digital vision chip on eyeglass frames sent images to an implanted chip connected to the optic nerve and the blind patient could see large letters. A little more and I wont have to go to welding school. Ill just plug in the welding chip and turn that big used butane tank I bought into a barbecue smoker on wheels. And the next time Im asked to speak to a bunch of rocket scientists Ill take a rocket chip with me - and sound like Im one of them. Dont I wish. But the leap from sensory input to knowledge input appears to be something a lot bigger then feeding a few optical signals. Cognitive science tells us that we assimilate new concepts only if they are within a small reach of what we already know - within the zone of proximity, as they say. This is why it takes so long to learn a new subject - we have to do the learning one step at a time, and each step has to sink in before the next can be built upon it. We assimilate new
concepts only if they are When robotics were first introduced into the factory environment
re-training electrical service technicians to the level of competency took a long time -
and many never made it because the new concepts of soft instructions and programming logic
were just too far from past experience. Those that did found learning new robot models and
new brands of robots successively easier. Like the difference between learning to drive
your first car and then moving on to the second and third. |
The science fiction knowledge chip is a fantasy example that goes one
step further - it is "meaning" compatible as well as physical and signal
compatible. The chip transfers instantly usable understanding. Think of an American
product development manager receiving a Chinese-language email message explaining a
product innovation methodology rooted in the Taoist teachings of Lao-Tse - and it was
translated perfectly, did not convey any thoughts that were culturally unique, and was
similar enough to prior knowledge to make total sense. A respected theory is that cognition is shaped by culture in general and language in particular. Think about it - and youll think in words - and only those that your socio-cultural background gives meaning to. Add to this the proximal-zone concept - that knowledge is assimilated in small steps. Now think about your culturally diverse, or even global, corporation - and its need to speed up the acquisition and mobilization of knowledge. Your organization wont try to solve this problem by eliminating cultural diversity - that would impair the important innovation potential (see this column Dec 98). Language has some possibilities for standardization, though: some global companies, Daimler-Chrysler for instance, are adopting English as the corporate language - though it may be awhile before production workers in Southern California can directly communicate new methods to their counterparts in Detroit, let alone Stuttgart. As to everybody knowing almost what they have to know next - Hah! When it really matters few people know hardly anything about whats coming next. But what if we could take anyone in the flavor they came in - then mix in an additional common culture, an additional common language, and a new single knowledge pattern so universal that everything else they had to learn was only a small step away? Put like that it sounds as far-fetched as the knowledge-chip fantasy; but bear with me as I move from the slightly exaggerated to the demonstrably possible. Our objective is a way to package a piece of knowledge so that it can be quickly and effectively transferred from one person to another within an organization. Our method will utilize concepts of language, culture, and pattern proximity. Basically we adopt a plug compatible standard that will require some learning time, but not much, from everyone in the group - and once learned, streamlines the knowledge transfer process. Though there are many ways that this might be accomplished, I will use an example that I am familiar with and have portrayed here in some detail in past essays. Im referring to a knowledge template Ive called a local metaphor model, a cultural context of change proficiency, and a language of change issues and Reusable-Reconfigurable-Scalable principles structured for systems thinking and communicated simultaneously in textual explanation, bulleted synopsis, graphic depiction, and connected story example. For a quick sample combine past essays: Assembly Lines Built Just In Time, Aug 97, and Local Metaphors Create Insight and Mobilize Knowledge, Oct 97 - archived in the library at www.parshift.com. This packaging example presupposes that the knowledge we want to transfer addresses some real problem, and that the real problem can be adequately described in terms of the dynamics of change that it presents. We believe that most knowledge of interest to business organizations fits these presuppositions, or can be made to; but we will save further elaboration until another time. Lets look at the language part. Were not talking about a primary language as rich as the one we all use for thinking and communicating about everything, whether that be English or Swahili, but rather the concept of language as vocabulary and communication structure. Think of it as the plug compatible physical package that allows us to transfer data from one person to another. Like any language it will take some time to master, but not a great deal of time as the concepts we wish to express in this language are very limited. As to culture, we all have many already. There is the primary and greater societal culture we belong to as well as the usually-secondary work environment culture we belong to; and maybe the sub-cultures of the soccer team we play with on Saturdays, the church group we meet with frequently, and the hunting lodge we visit in the fall. One may well be a subset of another but there are plenty of cases where seemingly contradictory cultures are embraced by the same person - like the religious physicist or the veterinarian hunter. The point is, we are all capable of embracing another culture. In this case we use culture as a set of values and beliefs that give context and perspective. Think of this common culture as providing our signal compatibility, giving us a means to transfer information, something beyond transferring mere data. Finally we come to the transfer of knowledge. Mainly we need a pattern of new knowledge that looks fairly close to old knowledge so that the knowledge receiver has ready-made hooks for attaching new information. Say you want to educate your design engineers on effective ways to gain value from direct customer interaction - something foreign to them. Help them build a local metaphor model packaged in the knowledge transfer format first - perhaps modeling the departmental new-hire interviewing process that they know and respect Then introduce the new knowledge packaged in the same manner - assimilation is much easier because the general concept hooks are all the same. And with the language and culture of change proficiency, one local metaphor model is all thats needed, no matter how many more and different new procedures, processes, and practices will come their way. Well continue discussing this concept of plug-compatible knowledge packaging in our next essay. |
©1999 RKDove - Attributed Copies Permitted Essay #049 - Originally Published 1/99 in Automotive Manufacturing & Production, Gardner Publications |
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========= Reply ========================= From: lsherman@casecorp.com (Lee Sherman), Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 Rick, it kind of sounds like some of the Richard Bandler neuro-linguistic programming concepts, i.e. getting your audience to agree to your ideas by telling them in a subconscious suggestion that they already agree with whatever it is you are about to tell them. More or less assist in the hooking process. Regards, lee ========= Reply ========================= ========= Reply ========================= ========= Reply ========================= ========= Reply ========================= ========= Reply ========================= 1) The new knowledge must be closely related to knowledge already
possessed by the learner, so that it can be linked with something already
known. The first of these three is the most important. Novak has methodology and tools that can help in the process of teaching new knowledge, and these same tools can help a learner relate new knowledge to what is already known. These tools are called Concept Maps. There is good material and even some software to help build Concepts Maps available on the web site http://cmap.ihmc.us. However, I recommend that you read his book before making use of these tools as it will provide useful insight. Rick ========= Reply ========================= Rick, Thanks a lot. The next time you visit Malaysia, I would be honored to meet-up with you. Right now I'm at Cambridge (Wolfson) on this research, and am scheduled to return to Malaysia first week of April. Regards, Nik ========= Reply ========================= |
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