Jarche's Favorite Links from Diigo

A 70 year old creativity technique that is still relevant today - Think Jar Collective

Tue May 21 11:44:39 +0000 2013

The first principle Young presents is the notion that an idea is nothing more or less than a new combination of old elements. In other words, ideas are just remixes and combinations of old stuff. This notion is popular again today maybe due in part to Kirby Ferguson’s TED talk and great video series, Everything Is A Remix.

The second principle is about what helps make new connections between old elements. What fosters new connections is being able to see relationships between seemingly unrelated things. Young recognizes that to some, seeing connections may come naturally and others may have to work at training it.

To some minds each fact is a separate bit of knowledge. To others it is a link in a chain of knowledge. It has relationships and similarities.

Tags: PKM

Cycles of Fashion by Daniel London - Narratively: Local stories, boldly told. - Narratively: Local stories, boldly told.

Sun May 19 17:27:25 +0000 2013

And yet the explosion of bicycle-flavored culture and activism lasted only a few years. In 1899, approximately 1.2 million bicycles had been produced in America–four years later, only half as many were made. The “cycle craze” was over. What happened? It might seem that the automobile had replaced the bicycle, but that was hardly the case, as there were only eight thousand cars in the entire United States at the turn of the century. When, in 1902, a reporter from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle asked a salesman, “Has the automobile affected the bicycle craze much?” the man replied: “Well, no, I can’t say it has. The bicycle business has practically been dead for some time.”

Tags: cycling

“So she posted her solution online, and then…” | johnstepper

Sat May 18 14:48:36 +0000 2013

Here’s one possible sequence:

identify a specific role or kind of job at your firm
create a role-based community of practice to connect those people
teach people in that community to work out loud – making their work visible and narrating their work as they do it
help the community manager recognize contribution and share stories of personal and commercial value
work with community leaders and your initial contributors to teach others

Tags: communities of practice narration

In 1897, a Bicycle Superhighway Was the Future of California Transit | Motherboard

Tue May 07 22:14:22 +0000 2013

In 1897, a wealthy American businessman named Horace Dobbins began construction on a private, for-profit bicycle superhighway that would stretch from Pasadena to downtown Los Angeles. It may seem like a preposterous notion now—everyone knows Angelenos don't get out of their cars—but at the time, amidst the height of a pre-automobile worldwide cycling boom, the idea attracted the attention of some hugely powerful players. And it almost got built.

Tags: cycling

thingamy: Innovate in four short steps

Tue Apr 30 16:48:20 +0000 2013

1. Make a list of things we do and take for granted.

Sony once heard: "We listen to music in the living room or in the concert hall, that's the way it is".

And Karl Benz heard: "Transport is by train for long distances and horse for mid distances, that works nicely thank you".

If something is done the same way every day then you can be sure that assumptions are not questioned, that's where you should start.

2. Ask "why is it so?" to challenge the assumptions.

"Because the HiFi is supposed to be in the living room, period."

"Because the horse is the biggest mobile power source known to mankind except for steam engines which are too big for the roads."

3. Find new technology or ways that could negate the reasons.

"We now have chips and miniature motors, so small that you can carry the HiFi and speakers in your pocket."

"I can miniaturise the combustion engine so it fits into a carriage, and it can be stronger than a horse."

4. Choose the situations with the silliest counter argument.

"Why listen to music when on the bus?"

"Why have the freedom to travel 100 km whenever it pleases you?"

Tags: innovation

The wilting initiative - Are you at risk?

Tue Apr 23 20:03:49 +0000 2013

If you’re in a similar situation, here are a couple of ideas about how you may lessen the (over-) reliance on a few individuals:

Create regular knowledge sharing sessions where the central/program team don’t act as ‘experts’, but as brokers
Rotate the role of ‘chair’ for meetings so more people take ownership
Make ‘site visits’ a part of the induction process to foster sideways collaboration
Short exchanges of team members. Working along side someone else creates a stronger connection
Peer reviews of major deliverables before ‘top down’ approvals

Organisations should be acutely aware of the risk of relying on a few passionate souls. The first step to mitigate this risk is to map out exactly how reliant you are and on whom. Once you understand the exact gap you can put in place very targeted interventions to minimise the risk. Finally, map the relationship patterns at regular intervals to check the effectiveness of your interventions.

Tags: networks knowledge KM

OpenSourceScholars.org

Tue Apr 23 13:03:22 +0000 2013

The Problem: Paying for school is hard, when you're finished you haven't learned enough skills to set you apart from your peers, and your resume is unimpressive.

This is a scholarship to motivate young adults to become involved in open source communities.

Committee members working professionally in the open source market will use their collective 30 years experience to recommend students based on the impact of their contributions.

We'll show you what open source is all about: how to negotiate the open source ecosystem, show you where to get started, and walk you through your first contributions.

Tags: opensource

Reporting From the Internet And Using Social Media - Handbook of Journalism

Mon Apr 22 11:56:18 +0000 2013

Reporting from the internet We are committed to aggressive journalism in all its forms, including in the field of computer-assisted reporting, but we draw the line at illegal behaviour. Internet reporting is nothing more than applying the principles of sound journalism to the sometimes unusual situations thrown up in the virtual world. The same standards of sourcing, identification and verification apply. Apply the same precautions online that you would use in other forms of newsgathering and do not use anything from the Internet that is not sourced in such a way that you can verify where it came from.

Tags: socialmedia SM_policy

Knoco stories: Why KM failed - Pharma organisation.

Wed Apr 17 11:05:10 +0000 2013

Avoid deﬁning knowledge within functions or silo-oriented communities of practice; instead deﬁne knowledge at the level of business processes. Remember that knowledge is operationalized by people; hence, a knowledge management initiative must relate knowledge to people’s day jobs. Tacit knowledge resides within people and their behaviours; hence attempting to apply Information Technology to tacit knowledge is fraught with difﬁculty. Instead, it is explicit knowledge that is most susceptible to the application of Information Technology. Knowledge is context-speciﬁc. It should be owned and maintained by people within the organization. Hence, external input to knowledge management initiatives must be carefully managed to ensure people within the organization are in control of the initiative at all times. Implementing knowledge management involves change in the organization. Understand the organization’s willingness to change and manage people’s expectations appropriately.

Tags: KM pharma

Genomera. Heal the world.

Tue Apr 16 19:59:31 +0000 2013

We’re crowd-sourcing health discovery by

helping anyone create group health studies.

Tags: startup health2

uBiome

Tue Apr 16 12:47:23 +0000 2013

uBiome is a citizen science startup that helps the public sequence their microbiomes. You get access to cutting edge DNA sequencing technology to find out what's in your microbiome, and then you can find out how you correlate with others in our data set and with existing studies of the microbiome. This is the first time that this technology has been brought to the public.

Tags: startup health2

GrassrootsHealth | Vitamin D Action - D*action Participant Questionnaire - Welcome!

Tue Apr 16 12:46:57 +0000 2013

When you order your kit from GrassrootsHealth, you will also be participating in the world’s largest vitamin D project to solve the deficiency, D*action.

You may choose to enroll for a 1-time test with your health information or you may even participate in the 5 year project where you provide your health information along with a vitamin D test each 6 months for the 5 year period.

Tags: startup health2

Home - American Gut - What's in your gut?

Tue Apr 16 12:46:19 +0000 2013

You've probably heard by now that the trillions of microbes living on and in our bodies are changing both the way we think about health and disease and even how we define Self. Ever wonder what's in your gut? Ever wonder how your diet might shift your gut microbes (for better or worse), or how simple lifestyle decisions may have a dramatic impact on your gut and overall health? Ever wonder which microbes on your husband sometimes make him smell funny?

The gut is our main focus, but it is also interesting to look at oral, skin and even vaginal communities for several reasons. It might be possible to develop biomarkers-canaries in our corporeal coal mines that let us predict aspects of your gut health based on a spit sample or a reading (swabbing) of your palm. We know, for example, that arterial plaque shares microbes with the mouth but not with the gut. Could we use plaque samples to predict features of our hearts? Maybe.

Tags: startup health2

Intellectual Capital Equity® | Ocean Tomo

Fri Apr 12 11:45:07 +0000 2013

Within the last quarter century, intellectual capital has emerged as the leading asset class. The term "intellectual captial" refers generally to traditional intellectual property assets - patents, trademarks and copyrights. At Ocean Tomo, we uniquely include within the definition of "intellectual capital" special client intangible assets, especially corporate and government preference rights.

Recent and anticipated changes in accounting rules and securities reporting will further the recognition of intangible assets. The growth in the value of Intellectual Capital Equity® can be seen when evaluating the market capitalization of the S&P 500 as shown in the chart below.

Tags: Business IP

Fracking Free Speech

Thu Apr 11 23:04:44 +0000 2013

Fracking is already rampant in Pennsylvania, but New York imposed a moratorium on the dangerous practice to assess the health and safety issues involved.

However, as OnEarth magazine reports, Sanford’s town board is eager to allow oil and gas outfits to frack away. The board even leased land to one corporation that wants to drill inside the town. Last fall, Sanford officials went further, imperiously imposing a gag order on their own citizens. It seems that opponents of the profiteering frack rush were using the board’s public comment session to…well, to comment publicly.

Irritated, the board decreed that any topic could be discussed at its meetings — except fracking.

The town leveled this autocratic restriction on people’s democratic rights by saying that the ongoing discussion on fracking got in the way of other board business. But, gosh, that’s the way it is in a democracy. The people themselves can dare to set the agenda by insisting that our local leaders discuss the big issues that matter most to our families and communities.

Tags: hydrofracturing

How To Curate Your Life: Seven Tips To Live By ...

Tue Apr 09 20:29:45 +0000 2013

a) Operate exclusively on the basis of quality - no compromises on what you pass on.

b) Curate things as if your reputation and value will be determined by what you share and how you share it.

c) Search and investigate well below and beyond the surface, because nothing is really the way it initially looks.

d) It's not in the technology. No need to have or buy any special tool, though having instruments that help you find, search, collect, organize and showcase your curated gems can definitely help.

e) Curate the environment around you, your room, your studio, your desk, your desktop, your garage and your shelves as if it was a shrine. If you are not doing it, you have already given up the god-like powers you may have to shape reality around you.

f) Curate with a purpose, not to simply share, communicate and express yourself. Go after something you want to help yourself and others with. Go after something specific you love and believe into.

g) Pay double attention to details as both life and curation are all about attention to details. If you are in a hurry, need to post before 12, or have to do x number of things asap to avoid being late, you better give up now on the idea you are "curating" anything at all.

Tags: PKM

List of open education resources online | opensource.com

Tue Apr 09 14:06:36 +0000 2013

Where open education is being used

Prime Minister David Cameron announced in February 2013 that more UK universities are joining Futurelearn, the UK's first provider of free, open online courses (with the British Library). In both the UK and US, there are hundreds or thousands of free, open online courses being used; increasingly we are seeing other countries, like Brazil and India, start to become heavy users and hotbeds for open source and open educational resources too.

Unesco has advocated for the use of open source and open educational resources worldwide. And, in December 2012 a UN trade group said that governments should seize open source opportunities and become less reliant on large-scale software manufacturers.

Tags: opensource education

Upstream University - Home

Mon Apr 08 14:48:36 +0000 2013

The rise of Free Software created opportunities for collaboration between individuals and organisations. Millions of individuals were seduced by the Free Software philosophy and the largest corporations made it part of their strategy. But the full potential created by this revolution is yet to be realized: Upstream University offers a training program aimed at helping professional developers contribute successfully and more efficiently to Free Software projects.

Tags: opensource learning

Knoco stories: Embedding Knowledge Management

Mon Apr 08 14:43:16 +0000 2013

Embedding Knowledge Management means making part of the normal work process, rather than an add-on. You do this in four ways.

Firstly, you write Knowledge Management roles and accountabilities into the Organigram. You introduce new roles where needed (lesson teams for example, leaders and coordinators for the big Communities of practice, Practice Owners and so on), and change some of the accountabilities of existing roles (the most senior experts, for example, need clear KM accountabilities, as described here. You need to change their job descriptions, so that they are held acountable for stewardship of the company knowledge). Then you measure and reward people against their performance in these roles, and against these accountabilities, just as you measure and reward them against any other component of their job.

Secondly, you write Knowledge Management processes into the work cycles (using the principles of Learning Before, During and After). Change the project requirements, to include mandatory processes for capture of knowledge at the end of the project or after key milestones, and mandatory processes for reviewing past knowledge at the start of the project. Change the rules for project sanction, so a project gets no money if it hasn't done any learning.

Thirdly you change the technology suite so that Knowledge Management tools are available, and used, as part of the working toolkit, and linked into the existing work tools. While email remains the number one work tool for many people, then link your KM tools into this, rather than requiring people to acquire a new habit. New habits can develop later, when KM becomes part of natural behaviour.

Finally you change the governance. Make KM part of the company values. Write it into the policies. Write it into the way people are rewarded. Change the reporting requirements, the HR appraisal mechanism, change the incentive scheme to reward collaboration and discourage competition.
Do these, and KM will be fully embedded as part of "the way you work"

Tags: KM PKM

Social networks and engineering serendipity in the workplace | Trends in the Living NetworksTrends in the Living Networks

Sat Apr 06 17:34:52 +0000 2013

Yes you can ‘engineer’ serendipity. Serendipitous connections result in happy and unexpected outcomes. This requires the design of a network structure in which nodes (e.g. people) that have a higher likelihood of connecting felicitously are exposed to each other. In a simple sense a greater network density (e.g. smaller workplace) results in more connections so is more likely to give serendipitous outcomes. However this also increases unproductive connections, which can create a real drag on productivity. In addition, increasing connections between a given pool of relatively heterogeneous people (e.g. employees) is far less likely to create serendipitous connections than enabling connections with a constantly changing array of external nodes. As such engineering serendipity can be done to a limited degree through workplace design, however the real magic happens when you engineer consistently diverse exposure across a given pool of people, and also bring in diverse external connections. A key issue is the degree of similarity of nodes (e.g. people) across a range of dimensions, including aspects of personality, interests, and work experience. True engineering of serendipity comes when you experiment with connecting nodes with differing degrees of similarity to find what creates the best outcomes in a particular context. This requires individual profiling, and also tracking the results relative the degree of similarity of people who have connected. There is much fruitful work to be done in better engineering serendipity.

Tags: PKM serendipity