Last month I published the latest e-book in the perpetual beta series (163 pages) which is focused on actionable insights for working and learning in a networked world. I have extracted the 23 pages of Chapter 7 on personal knowledge mastery to provide an idea of what the remaining chapters in the book look like and as a reference for the online PKM workshop (the next workshop starts Monday 14 September).

This chapter proposes that the connection between innovation and learning is evident. We cannot be innovative unless we integrate learning into our work. Improving our ability to see contradictions, by seeking disconfirming data, can easily be integrated into the discipline of PKM.

For example, here are some questions that the practice of PKM can address:

• How do I keep track of all of this information?
• How do I make sense of changing conditions and new knowledge?
• How can I develop and improve critical thinking skills?
• How can we cooperate and collaborate better?
• How can I engage in problem-solving activities at the edge of my expertise?

The practice of personal knowledge mastery is that we should continuously seek new ideas from our professional social networks and then filter them through more focused conversations with our communities of practice where we have established trusted relationships. You know you are in a community of practice when it changes your practice.

We make sense of these embryonic ideas by doing new things, either ourselves, or with our work teams. We later share our creations, first with our teams and perhaps later with our communities or even our networks. We use our understanding of our communities and networks to discern with whom and when to share our knowledge. In a network economy, this is learning at work.

Download Chapter 7: PKM (PDF)