Far Wise in Knowledge Management

Weblogs for teenagers?

Someone sent me the link of a paper in The Economist about weblogging: "Weblogging goes to work". The subtitle is a bit prejudiced (my italics): "Blogging brings to mind self-absorbed teenagers posting their daily musings online. Might the technology be useful in business?"

It is a pity that the publication doesn't mention which survey it refers to when it says: "While bloggers—half of whom are teenagers, according to one survey—are convinced that they are changing the world, not everyone agrees".
I have another survey that says most (content creators) are in the age group 30-49! It depends on which survey you take.

Anyway, attention for the business uses of weblogs in nice, because here is a lot to gain.

The real world?

In the Amazon editorial review of the book I just wrote about (Hildreth & Kimble), I read the following last sentence: "This book is a resource for all people who work with CoPs - both in academia and in the real world".

Hmm, this is very funny. Does it mean that academics don't live in the real world? It could be true for some, who seem to live in their own closed world, but I think most look further than their own offices. Seems a bit short-sighted of the revier. Besides, what is the "real" world? Don't we all live in our perception of what happens around us? My world is different than anyone else. So, what is real?

New book arrived

I received in my post box (at the office) a book that we ordered. It's titled: Knowledge Networks: Innovation through Communities of Practice, by Paul Hildreth and Chris Kimble (Editors). The book is a collection of a lot of papers on communities, most from a practical point of view. It looks interesting, but where to start reading?

Weblog reading and writing (again)

I'm still concerned about writing this weblog, so I've been looking for tips in other weblogs. Ton already pointed me to his posting on information overload. From this I understand that I need to distinguish noice from the real interesting info. I don't exactly agree that information overload already existed long ago (the picture from a Flintstones family), since they didn't get so much impulses (from TV, e-mail, newspapers, telephone etc) as we get. For us, being able to select is very important, in that I agree with Ton. But my feeling is sometimes that we are afraid to choose, afraid to miss something important. The only thing we do is finding out that it is not important.

Dave Pollard gives a list of tips how to improve your weblog and to attract more attention to it. Though, it may sound logic: provide something unique; be first; make a great first impression... Doing it is a bit more difficult. Can one be original on a network where everything is copied so easily? Uniqueness lays in the personal touch, I think, that someone give to a news item.

The best tip come at the end of Pollards posting: Be patient. Ah, that's something to start for. I can be very patient if necessary.

The fun of running

I just read an interview with a very fast female (ex-)runner from China: Wang Junxia. She dominated long-distance running in the 1990s. At that time, nobody exactly knew what training in China was like; these Chinese ladies suddenly "where there", at the top (marathon, 10 kilometers and so). Now this interview shows how hard it must have been (they call it a regime, which probably says enough). Now, she is able to run no more than 30 minutes a day. She must have suffered a lot during her top period, and this is the result: her body doesn't cooperate any more.

I realise than that my view on running is so different. Maybe I'm happy that I'm not a top-atlete (will never be as well), so who expects what from me? Only me, I guess (I think the trainer gave up with high expectations). For me, running in a nice environment (like the Ardennen last weekend) is top, I enjoy this most. Of course, I'm now trained well enough to do this particularly relaxed (ask Janine and Rogier). And sometimes, but not too often, a race is enough to keep the challenge to improve. So, I'm happy when the weather is good, not too hot, the environment is nice and there are nice people to chat with during a one-hour run. And I'm sure it influences on my (good) mood.

Arjan Erkel free!

When we came back from our Easter Holidays, first thing on the news we heard was that Arjan Erkel is now free man. Not that I know him personally, but his story is awful. Volunteer of Artsen zonder Grenzen (or Médecins sans Frontières), he was kidnapped in Dagastan, Russia, and released after 607 days. Mind you, that's nearly 2 years! It must have been a terrifying time for him and his family, so I'm happy for this "happy ending".

Finding routine for writing....

The last few days, or rather more than a week, I find that it's difficult to take the time to read (other weblogs) and write in my own. There were to many other things to do! And I think, once you start not-writing, it will become more difficult to get back to the weblog and write. So, I probably need to make it part of my daily routines. Let's say, every day at 5 PM (place reminder in my electronic agenda). But then: will inspiration come that moment? Or, maybe better: after I've read an article, make it a habit to summarise and comment - because that's what I mostly do anyway.

I also found that reading other weblogs can take so much time! Though my list is not long, I wonder how others do this with a blogroll of over 50 weblogs!

Anyway, I have plenty of time to think this over, since I'm away to the Belgian Ardennes from tomorrow on till Monday. There are other bloggers there as well, but we promised not to talk about work (and keeping the blog is part of it, for me).