KNOWLEDGE WORKERS are the New Rock Stars (& the New Rich)

Knowledge workers are the new rock stars and the new rich.  Through your efforts and expertise, you curate, organize and then sell information.

“When planning for a year, plant corn. For a decade, plant trees. For life, educate people.” Chinese Proverb

A New Problem:  TMI

If the “generation and exploitation of knowledge” is the only way to prosperity, it has also created a singularly unique problem.  We are indeed in an Era where wealth can be made from Knowledge, but the blessing of abundance has brought with it a new problem:  TMI (too much information).  Humorously, we even have an acronym for it.  In a strange twist of irony so much knowledge can become a hindrance to knowing.

Unorganized Sludge

Today, none of us lack the availability of information.  We have all had the experience of spending hours researching and sorting through less-than-credible sources on the internet which simply sap our valuable time and energy and result in frustration and wrong directions.  Have you ever read all day on the internet only to have more questions than answers than before you started?  “As Robert Lucky, a former director of AT&T Bell Laboratories, says, [data is] the “unorganized sludge” of the information age.[1] After all, you know if it’s on the internet, it’s true, right? (Kidding)

The Productive Use of Knowledge

No, we don’t lack information; we lack credible, trusted sources of knowledge. “As an economy, we are on the cusp of the transition from information to knowledge, with knowledge meaning the application and productive use of information [1].” It is the management, the accurate application, and the useful ROI of information that has value.

We need someone to put the information pieces together for us. We need someone to help us manage, understand, and apply knowledge effectively.  The productive use of information is simply the difference between knowing it and using it.  Show us how to use it.  In all this swirl of information, how do we know what’s major and minor?  How do we prioritize it?  How do we know how to put it all together?  To understand the big picture?  To put it all in context?  To use it to make good decisions and solid judgments?

Too much information (TMI) is the problem….and the opportunity.

As a Knowledge Worker, it’s your job to be a Content Curator—a knowledge funnel—and it makes your knowledge—making it easier for others to understand.

Creating a course is the ultimate way to be a Knowledge Worker and increase your influence and income.

References:

1 Botkin, J., & Davis, S. (1994). The Coming of Knowledge-Based Business. Harvard Business Review. https://bit.ly/484agy1.