Knowledge Worker LO16118

Richard Goodale (fc45@dial.pipex.com)
Fri, 05 Dec 97 10:27:11 GMT

Replying to LO16047 --

Hi Dutch

"Knowledge Worker" "means" just what one choses it to mean--neither more
nor less (to paraphrase Humpty Dumpty). I've always found it to be a
condescending term by association. By this I mean it implies that those
whom we have traditionally thought of as "workers" (i.e. people who
actually make things) are someow inferior (i.e. have less access to
"knowledge") than people who have jobs which don't require that they make
things. If you believe that latter premise, try the following thought
experiment.

Assume that there are two modern, efficient enterprises producing the same
product and located in close proximity. Enterprise A is suddenly
afflicted by a rare virus that kills all the "worker" workers but leaves
the "knowlege" workers alive and well. Enterprise B is simultaneously
afflicted by another virus that kills all the "knowledge" workers, but
leaves the "worker" workers alive and well. Assuming all other things are
equal, which enterprise do you think would be most likely to recover most
quickly from their tragedy? The answer depends a lot on the assumptions
you use and the mental models which you bring to the experiment. I, at
least, would put my money on the enterprise with the "worker" workers.
That's where, I think, most knowledge in most enterprises resides.

Cheers

Richard Goodale
The Dornoch Partnership

-- 

Richard Goodale <fc45@dial.pipex.com>

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>