You gain knowledge and loose pride…

You know the feeling when you suddenly realize that something inside you have changed. Something with your personality, level of knowledge, values etc. had changed without you noticing it. A typical situation for me would be a discussion around politic. Suddenly you agree with someone who you totally disagreed with before. Like jumping from right to left on the political scale. This change could because of new knowledge you got from talking to new people, taking education or just the fact being abroad away from everything.

Well at these situations I sometimes feel some pride in not letting go of old knowledge. Just like politicians when had made a statement years ago and now being put accountable for in the press. Sometimes it's because that same politicians suddenly changed that statement or promise. The press will not let it go that he or her changed his view and will make him look like a person you cannot trust. He or her therefore has to defend his view and argue for that both view are valid somehow- strange moments. But I can see myself in those situations.

You know you might be wrong but because of past incidents you will not change because you lose some pride. Like living by the statement " one time right, always right".

It could also be personally. Having a discussion around a topic where you definitely had the edge in level of knowledge against another person. Then month later you are having a similar discussion again but know the other person has the edge against you. Instead of letting go and actually just learn, you defend your points just to get the "old" edge back even though you know it's not true.

Knowledge should help you or be beneficial for you but sometimes it just helps to create a moment where you feel you lose something by using the knowledge.

Rasmus Gejl Kristensen : 28 May 2012 10:49 |  Tags: Kbam |  Comments (4) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

The paradox in knowledge

Sometimes I think we get some kind of framework to work by when studying. We are learning about different concepts and theories which we then use for analysing the world. When analysing the world with these concepts and theories we also argue for what is right and what is wrong. Of course seen under different context but still we are always comparing the reality with theory. What else can we actually do?

In that sense we get limited by the knowledge we learn. So why not learn everything and go around this limitation?

Well after doing my literature review I quickly found out that for me do learn about my topic I had to limited myself. And even though I limited myself from areas I am still not able to cover everything. So in that case its opposite I have to limit myself for being able to learn.

Don't know if I am the only one seeing this paradox. Knowledge limits the view of the reality but for getting the knowledge you much limit the reality? When will we ever get the big picture then?

That's why the biggest thing I have learned is the ability to learn and find knowledge suitable for solving my problem. KBAM you surprise me once again!

Rasmus Gejl Kristensen : 22 May 2012 13:39 |  Tags: Kbam |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Knowledge is a funny thing

Funny incident happened the last two days at OPP. Our teacher said " If you believe in the evolution theory". I know the reason why he said might have been in respect to some religion but for me it was funny because I don't see it as a choice of something to believe in. Instead I see it more as fact to that is how humans got developed. People with a religion might indeed also thinks it was funny because of the same reason but just with a opposite view.

How many times does this kind of thing happens? where knowledge is seen as someone to be clear fact where others sees it as not real?

Also how often is knowledge being hide because of other people. Like the smart guy don't always want to be the smart and clever guy but just want to fit in. And from the other view the stupid guy who tries to be clever just to fit in.

Knowledge is really a fun thing. It makes people do so many strange things. Sometimes I also wonder how my knowledge affect my behavior and how I would have behaved if I didn't have it. Would my life be more simple? or would be more complicated to live in? Knowledge make you understand more things but in the same time also makes you think about more things because you know the complicity in it. Like the pictures on facebook sometimes saying that a 5 year old could answer in 10 sec and then you sit and struggle with it for 30 min. Are you then more stupid than a 5 year old or are you just to clever that you think to complicated?

Rasmus Gejl Kristensen : 15 May 2012 20:47 |  Tags: Kbam |  Comments (4) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

You want knowledge, I want Sun

Knowledge is really a fun creature. It helps humans to develop the world. In fact knowledge is one of the things distinguish us from animals. We are able to store knowledge and transfer it between generations over time. Today knowledge is even transferred between countries across the whole world between cultures as well. Don't know what the difference are between culture and knowledge?

A show have been on Danish television concerning young Danes traveling to Indonesia to try to live under the circumstance food industry employees live under in Indonesia. Of course the places they had to go to was not in the "good" end of the "good" and "bad" scale. They went into horrible situation where they had to work for 8 hours for less than a cheese burger price in DK. But that salary was able to feet them and give pay rent for a place to stay all together of course. Now comparing that to Danish standards that is not good, but isn't that wrong to do?

Why is it that "the grass is always greener on the other side" comes up where ever you are. I live in a country where people are stressed and kids are raised by institutions. In my mind that's not a "good" standard either when comparing with others.

Comparing situations is like comparing knowledge around each situation. Knowledge around what is there, what is bad and what is good. All is being compared or benchmarked all the time. What I think we are forgetting is putting the culture into context when comparing knowledge. Like how much knowledge actually makes you happy?

Let's say that for me to be happy I need knowledge which will help in earning enough money to buy a nice house, boat, car vacations etc. Others might be happy by just have enough money for food and other basic needs which requires another level of knowledge. Who is most happy? I will probably work a lot for my money and give up spare time where the other person have more spare time but not able to buy cool stuff.

I'm sitting at the library right now gathering information and I would rather sit at a beach in Spain where a guy sitting and dreaming about an education. He want knowledge where I want sun.

Rasmus Gejl Kristensen : 11 May 2012 13:22 |  Tags: Kbam |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Lets create a Hostel environment

Just came back from a trip to Malaga where i recharged my batteries for the summer. Doing my stay I lived at a hostel where people where arriving and leaving all the time. Not different to other hostel in that way but I just thought this hostel was different because of the open people it seemed to attracted. I talked to people from all over the world who was back packing. They were in a completely different situation as I am in where they were living in the moment and I according to a plan with a deadline on the 30 of august. One guy who was back packing was from Australia really had a lot of stories to tell everyone. Some more serious than others. His back ground was agriculture where he analysed seeds for its resistance to different kind of weather.

I got information about things I would never get by searching the net or library. All of it may not be useful for be in the situation I am in now but it may be in the future. What I learned there was the power of tacit knowledge and why that is so important to manage for companies. Also how important it is for people to be willing to share information with everyone. The hostel environment added with each back packers situation definitely created a perfect combination for sharing tacit knowledge.

So where am I going with this except stating that I had a good time. Well what I saw at the that hostel I think could be transferred directly into companies. Why does it seem like every step in a company is related to each specific job? We learn how to plan our time most efficient for getting the most out of each valuable second. I know i'm Danish and may do that a bit more extreme than other cultures.

I have heard that Google already operate by having one day a week where employees can do whatever they want at their work. Don't know if it's true or not but when thinking about the Hostel environment I really see the value in it.

Another important factor in that environment was that people left when they did not find it interesting any more. Those who liked it was staying longer than planned and simply just enjoyed every minute. That's how I want to feel about my future job.

Rasmus Gejl Kristensen : 10 May 2012 18:13 |  Tags: Kbam |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

A no fear environment is a paradise for "Criminals"!!

I see the point in driving out fear in an organization. In fact arguing against it would just be plain stupid. Its such an easy argument to use because of removal of something no one likes. Like the phrase world peace- who can actually argue against that? It would be like arguing for war then, which nobody like.

Having no fear in a organization do help the sharing of knowledge and creation of knowledge. In fact driving out fear in an organization seems only to add positive things to an organisation. Can this really be true? are there no side effects of no fear in an organisation which is not positive?

I connect no fear with trust. When there is mutual trust in an organisation there is no fear. What if trust is connected to being naiv. I have heard many say that a person who trust a criminal is being naive. Naive in the case that he or she will do it again- one time criminal always criminal.

Seeing organisations as a chain where the weakest part of the organisation is the weakest link of the chain. An excellent company do not have any weak links. They do not sub optimize but focus on the overall organisations performance as a whole. Why have on part that are strong if another one is weak and create a threat to the company. Make that weak part strong as well and become excellence.

If organisations are not having fear in the organisation they trust each other. What if a "criminal" comes into the company? should you trust him and then be naive? if so what happens when he or she brakes "the law" once again?

Prisons is not a sustainable concept but it do create some kind of justice in the society. If someone's brakes the law he will be put to jail. It creates some kind of fear. Remove prisons and you remove fear but you will be vulnerable to criminals. Is that the same case for organisations?

Rasmus Gejl Kristensen : 03 May 2012 16:18 |  Tags: Kbam |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Is knowledge management outdated?

I did raise this issue in class but I still think it as potential for some more thoughts.

Is the need for knowledge management the same today as it was in the past?

If we assume that machines in the "old" days were less reliable as they are today. Then operators working on old machines will also be different from operators working on new machines today. Old machines can be considered as being more manual than new machines today. They are therefore more depending on a human factory than the new machines are. Other skills will be required for operation an automatically machines than operating a manual one. The manual machine might also be more flexible than the automatic "new" machine. Not flexible in the number of products is it able to produce but flexible in the way it can be operated. Some ways is most likely to be better than others- hence knowledge management are important for securing the right method will be used.

Knowledge management in the "old" days was therefore affected by the environment, work standards etc. All that has changed today which is why I think the need for knowledge management has also changed. Machines do the knowledge management for us today which is why we do not need to focus on that anymore. So what we learn today as being knowledge management might not be the things needed in the todays business world? Have we really evolved with the world when talking knowledge management or are we still fixed on the old days?

Rasmus Gejl Kristensen : 02 May 2012 19:39 |  Tags: Kbam |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Predict the future by knowing current impact

One of the criterias in EFQM for asest management was to manage the organisation and its products impact on the society. Just read an article about the most poor county in USA. That county was highly depending on the tobacco and coal industry. Both industries who has a high impact on the society. Looking at pictures from that county it really states the importance in why organisations has to manage their impact on the society. Large organisation in my mind has a responsibility by being large. Yes this might sound as a socialist speaking but it's not anything like that.

Tobacco kills producing coal is hard to the environment, that is a fact. That is probably also why these industries will suffer in the future. The worlds attentions is at the moment on sustainability both in shape of health of the earth but also its humans.

The poor county is mainly poor due to people are being fired in these industries. Don't know if that specific county was rich in the past, but let's assume that just to get a more clear picture. If those companies who once was a great profitable industry though about their impact would they not have been able to see this future?

A company customers is the society, without them companies are nothing. Looking at the impact they create in the society should therefore help companies in predict their own future. So instead of being a socialistic view it could be considered to a be capitalistic view.

Can't remember the exact saying but it something about giving and you receive much more. it's a really philosophic saying which is perfect for girly movies and can be considered as being a "bla bla". But putting it in this context it really make sense.

Rasmus Gejl Kristensen : 01 May 2012 12:47 |  Tags: Kbam |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

How are smart are we or how smart are our phones?

Couple of weekends ago I was in Birmingham for sightseeing with a friend. We were not that known in Birmingham but was not worried about finding our way because we had our phones. Our phones are almost becoming a basic need for being able to survive in this world. A phone can do everything today. If you have a question and cannot answer it no need for waiting just Google it on the phone. I guess that is also why every time I go on a trip I double check three things, do I have my wallet, my phone and keys. Sometimes passport also comes into that double check process but that is , as we MBE call it, special course.

Back to the Birmingham trip. The day was a bit cloudy and rain could break out any minute we therefore had to find out destination as quick as possible- the sea life center. Both of us turned on our phones GPS and trusted it to do the work for us, but guess what it did not. Instead it made us walk around in Birmingham for 30 minutes looking like two fools steering at two phones while walking.

Don't think I'm the only one having tried this so hope everyone can see them self in the story. My point of the story is how we rely on the availability of information and data. In my mind we almost become stupid due to that. We don't need to think about a question any more we just have to use the right search techniques for finding the answer. How does that develop our brain? We could of course talk about an evolution step where human brains are not only placed in our heads but also our phones. But what are humans able to do if this information get lost. Like under a disaster where power supply might get ruined. Would we be able to adopt that change- like the survival of the fittest.

Sometimes people actions need to me made human. Some information is just logical and therefore in my mind not needed to be there. In fact sometimes I think it ruins more than it benefits on the long term. We become used to information given to us thought by somebody else logical mindset. So too much information will just create more need for information due to lack of common sense development.

Rasmus Gejl Kristensen : 30 Apr 2012 21:08 |  Tags: Kbam |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Look beyound what you "see

You might think that you need eyes for being creative because you have to get inspired by the things you see. But research has shown that blind people are in fact more imaginary- hence more creative. How often do you think this assumptions is made?

In my mind it's the same as saying that blue collar employees cannot make improvements or they are just people who should be told what to do. Also the excuses made that we as educated are the ones able to make the right strategic decision due to our academic knowledge. Referring back to an older blog I made about how that knowledge quickly gets outdated. How can we then use that excuse and that assumption?

I had a creative seminar in my previous job where I gathered people from all levels to find a new way to pack finished materials. One of my main responsibilities was to break down the this assumptions because it existed in both the blue collar and white collar employee. The blue collar employee did not believe in his, in my mind, brilliant idea. Where the white collar employee quickly had the one and only solution because of his knowledge.

The main responsibility for me in a future job will, in my mind, be to break down these barriers. Not seeing things as they are but see beyond that and see the risk or potential instead-be blind.

Rasmus Gejl Kristensen : 27 Apr 2012 10:31 |  Tags: Kbam |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem