, 2 min read
Are you an IT-empower worker or an old school worker?
Harold has a good post on what knowledge workers want. I’m turning it into a test… see in the table below whether you an IT-empower worker or not… I score 4 out 4 as an IT-empower worker.
| old school worker | IT-empower worker |
|---|---|
| I can’t find anything. | I can find most things. |
| I get what I need more effectively from conversations. | I get most of what I need from general written conversations and specific oral conversations – online (though I still like face-to-face discussions). |
| Knowledge gathering isn’t the best use of my time. | Knowledge gathering is a good use of some of my time because I’ve developed a few efficient processes. |
| I prefer private knowledge stocks that I don’t trust others enough to share. | I still keep some private knowledge stocks, but use the public ones more often. |
I would add a few of my own…
| old school worker | IT-empower worker |
|---|---|
| I mostly use commercial software installed and maintained by someone else. | I find and manage my own software, mostly free software. |
| Most software application I use are desktop applications: I spend 97% of my time in Microsoft Office. | Most software I use is Web-based. |
| I’m getting nervous when people suggest we use a Wiki: what’s wrong with Microsoft Word? | I run my own wikis. |
| A blog? I’ve got nothing to say and I prefer to preserve my privacy. | My blog is one of my key knowledge management tools. |
| My projects are mostly with nearby colleagues. | My office is the worldwide though I work from my basement. |
A very large fraction of my colleagues are “old school workers”. How is it that I don’t feel more productive than they are? Is there any concrete benefit to being IT-empowered? It seems to me that as with each passing year, I’ve got more and more to read and my schedule is not getting any lighter. In many ways, my blog makes me smarter, but I just can’t point to the benefits in my daily life. I’d like to.