The Working Smarter Fieldbook: A Glimpse and Some Thoughts

"Collaboration is a process through which people who see different aspects of a problem can constructively explore their differences and search for the solution that go beyond their own limited vision of what is possible." ~ Anecdote 

And informal learning is hinged on collaboration.

I am reading The Working Smarter Fieldbook (June 2010edition) by the ITA group, namely, Jay Cross, Jane Hart, Jon Husband, Charles Jennings, Harold Jarche and Clark Quinn.
My current understanding of informal learning and collaboration, their place in the workplace, their efficacy in improving performance--both individual and organizational, their importance in individual happiness, and their relevance in becoming a true professional and building communities of practice, all stem from the blogs of these thought leaders.

The book is a synthesis of years of collective experience, know-how,  knowledge and deep passion for improving and enabling human performance. As an L&D professional, for me the book is a practical guide to the implementation of a more efficacious "workscape" and even tells me what my elevator pitch should be. However, as I read it, I realized it is also much more. It speaks to me at a personal level showing me how I can push myself to become a more effective professional, find my Element by investing in collaborating, learning, and sharing, by building a network and being part of a network of professionals.

While I follow the individual blogs of the writers mentioned above and I am familiar with some of the articles, the book brings all together in a cohesive structure enabling us to see the linkages, patterns, co-relations, and inter-connections. The seek-sense-share cycle in active sense-making advocated by Harold Jarche has been done for us, and I could see the pattern emerge. Undoubtedly, it has placed a lot of scattered information in perspective for me.

This post is by no means a comprehensive review/synthesis of the book but a snippet to give readers a hint of its flavor. The book is divided into the following key sections:

1. Working Smarter
2. Informal Learning
3. Social Learning
4. The Business Case
5. Develop your Elevator Pitch
6. Cheat Sheets
7. Instructional Design 2.0
8. Collaboration
9. Content
10. Rethinking Learning in Organizations

For those who have read the first version of this unbook, I would like to point out that almost all the sections mentioned above have been expanded and new ones added.

Realizing that I cannot do justice to the book in one post and it'd be too facile to say, "It's a must read!" and leave it at that, I have decided to focus on my key takeaways from section 1.

Section 1 

The following excerpts sum up the essence of what it means to work smarter:

Training becomes obsolete because it deals with a past that won't be repeated. Learning will be re-defined as problem solving, achieving fit witn one's environment and having the connections to deal with novel situations. ~ Jay Cross

A workscape is a platform where knowledge workers collaborate, solve problems, converse, share ideas, brainstorm, learn, relate to others, talk, explain, communicate, conceptualize, tell stories, help one another, teach, serve cusotmers, keep up to date, meet one another, forge partnerships, build communicaties, and distribute information. ~ Jay Cross

Read the book to see what constitutes a workscape, how to enable collaboration and informal learning, how to supplement training with ongoing learning that is embedded in the work-flow itself, and most importantly, to understand the philosophy, "Work is learning and learning is work!"

Watch this space for more on this book...

   Related articles

• Clark Quinn > Transforming Business: Social Media and Conversations (internettime.posterous.com)
• Working Smarter 2010 (jarche.com)
• 21st Century L&D Skills (charles-jennings.blogspot.com)
• Managing in Complexity (jarche.com)
• Getting Strategic (internettime.posterous.com)
• Workplace Learning: Beyond Training (janeknight.typepad.com)
• ID and Other Reflections: Quotes and excerpts on the need for Learning 2.0 from the Best of T+D: 2007-2009 (internettime.posterous.com)
• Harold Jarche " Active sense-making (internettime.posterous.com)