The Ages of Knowledge

Today I signed off the cover design for the Social Leadership Handbook. And tonight I’m meeting up at the GoogleGlass Basecamp with other Explorers. Both things relate to knowledge: one a curated space, the other a tool for curation. We share books, static collections of information, in depth analysis and reflection. With Glass, we curate images and sound bites, share them widely and immediately with little reflective space.

Books are old. Glass is new.

Our relationship with knowledge is evolving: in itself, it’s become more readily available, easily accessed, but the meaning we create (and co-create) in our communities can remain elusive.

The challenge for organisations is to support this sense making process, not simply throw us the knowledge. That’s where social learning approaches excel.

It’s an odd day: the dichotomies feel real: I’m committing thoughts to paper whilst committing to the technology. And the paper i write on is digital.

Knowledge may be forever, but the mechanisms and channels through which we relate to it are agile, ever changing.