Why Knowledge Matters

The Magazine of Smart People

It's this week!...just on the wire this morning, Smart People Magazine debuts this week on Wednesday April 15.

Here's what I heard from Jerry Ash, Publisher:

Smart People turns KM inside out, moves the knowledge dialogue from corporate management to the mainstream and targets a digital audience -- a combination of the digital pioneers, the grown up digitals and guys like me, the catching up digitals.

The aim of the magazine is to spread the news about the 'knowledge factor' and to help ordinary smart people capitalize on knowledge in living, learning, choosing, creating and working --- which is the five sections of the magazine (only four in the first edition). The goal also is to groom the digitals early to play key roles in KM where the environment is right and the systems are in place.

In developing Smart People, we have also kept in mind the lessons learned in knowledge management. The magazine has been developed collaboratively by some 65 volunteers coming from all points including the social networks where I've made lots of new friends. The magazine is 'new media' not only because it is delivered online in three versions -- flip-book, html and pdf -- but because we have established several feedback channels in some of the most prominent social networks including Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin and Twitter. Volunteer representatives of Smart People magazine are working there to help 'prosumers' -- people who don't want to be sold but to participate in the development of the product -- join in the fun of developing the content and choosing the direction of Smart People magazine.

We're doing everything 'differently' with this magazine, just as we would encourage people and organizations to do the same. And so, we are what we preach.

I'd tell you about the Smart People Community that is forming in the background, but I fear that would be too much for you to take all at once!

The first issue is free and then we dare promote paid subscriptions. 
I'd love to have you along during this Beta Year as we find ourselves, but at least review the first issue and then use one of the SN channels to give us feedback. Of course, you know me, so if you'd prefer to do it personally, you have my new phone number.

Please follow me. I haven't left KM, I'm taking it to new places!

Jerry
Publisher, Smart People magazine
Former managing editor, Inside Knowledge magazine Founder, Association of Knowledgework

Coming this week at:  Smart People Magazine

Smart People

It has been my pleasure to know - for the past 10 years or so - Jerry Ash.

Jerry is a thought leader in Knowledge Management. Jerry founded the Association of Kowledgework in the late 1990s. AOK is a Community of Communities of Practice that brought people together to discuss various aspects of KM. Probably most famous for the "Star Series" discussions (nearly 50 of them), Jerry was either connected enough, wise enough, or just gutsy enough to ask and get the KM leaders of our time to engage with the members of the AOK community. It was unprecedented.

As happens with bright individuals, Jerry was snatched up and given a writer and then editor position with Inside Knowledge Magazine, where for the past few years he has been writing articles on various aspects of Knowledge Management and being Editor for a little more than a year.

But now in approximately another 2 weeks, Jerry will be launching a new project; it's an exciting new magazine called Smart People.

In his own words, Jerry says,

....Smart People magazine will be a 'new media' publication. I think the most important feature of new media is that its readers be given the ability to be prosumers, not consumers. Prosumers aren't passive, they're active and the networks are there to help them decide what the future content and purpose of Smart People will be.

We've also learned that the Net Generation we see as our biggest potential market is the prosuming type. At least that's what Don Tapscott says in his new book Grown Up Digital and his opinion is backed by $4 million of research he did for a consortium of clients. Not only is Don Tapscott one of the feature writers for the first issue of Smart People, his book provides us with the best market research we could buy.

We want Smart People magazine to reflect who our followers are, what they think. While we think we know our intended audience and we have an idea what will be interesting to them, only our audience knows for sure! And so, we are looking to you in these discussions to shape the future of Smart People magazine.

That's not a new idea for us. In fact, the very appearance of the first issue is the result of the collaborative process we chose to involve some 60 volunteers in an open workspace.

This is an exciting time in human development. We are all so fortunate to be a part of it. And Smart People magazine -- *powered by smart people* -- will play an important roll. Let the fun begin!

While the collaborative aspect of the magazine is certainly intriguing, and probably groundbreaking, what I like about it is that it focuses on the people. Knowledge Management is always about the people - whether they use/capture/share - knowledge at home, work or play...It's the individual at the use level that is smart and finding ways to be/work/play even smarter.

Good luck to Jerry and to Smart People Magazine - debuting in Mid April.

History Lessons - Part 1

While certainly not a history expert, I confess to reading history books, and am fascinated with the things that it can teach us - even in the digital age. So I was pleased to bump into Nick Milton's post this past week, Knowledge Management in the Age of Navigation.

Nick's selection of early navigation - 15th century - with explorers from Spain, Portugal and England reaching out beyond known boundaries has obvious present day relevancy.

There are 4 primary take-aways (for me) from this particular history lesson - and as Nick reminds - that apply to the Project Manager of today (though I think this could even apply to any manager or leader). 

Key are: a. Learn Before - study the current knowledge and work with and collaborate with peers, b. Learn During through after action reviews and journals (blogs), and c. Learn After by bringing back knowledge, reviewing, analyzing and making it available for the future. Full descriptions at the link above which I recommend as my notes do not do it justice.

The fourth key to this lesson, which I see as critical, is having a person to spearhead the knowledge capture and evolution. In Nick's navigation study, Henry the Navigator of Portugal, created the Sagres School. This became the center of knowledge related to navigation. At Sagres, captains could study the latest available knowledge and talk with other knowledgeable captains before their expeditions....and then returning back with lessons learned, share them with their successors.In the end, this gave Portugal the competitive advantage in the race for territory at that time.

Centuries later, as I've briefly cataloged in What Is KM, U.S. navigation knowingly or unknowingly followed the Sagres model when Matthew Maury created his book of maps and navigation Sailing Directions to capture and report on swifter sailing routes to South America (story courtesy of James Burke). Similarly he relied on captains experience to continue to enhance his knowledgebase - providing competitive advantage.

Nick Milton has a few of these type lessons that I intend to study further in addition to some of the work that they are doing at Knoco...they not only provide a great setting for lessons in Knowledge Management, but in the context of stories, they are also easy to pass on along with the lesson.