052 This month’s tip:

Know what you don’t know.

John Donne told us that no man is an island, and the truth is that no one ever works completely alone. Some jobs are more solitary than others, but even if you're laboring in a garret someplace, your work product has to be used by the world at large. Otherwise, what's the point?

It's a good idea to take inventory of your own special skills, but it's also wise to be alert to your own limitations. Knowing that you're good at one thing, but not so good at something else, is the first step on the road to getting help. If you can build up a network of contacts to fill in some of the gaps in your own knowledge, so much the better. Working collaboratively is more productive, and more fun, too. Let 2008 be the year for building your own personal think tank!

December 2007 - Volume 5, Issue 12

Special Holiday Edition!

Winter has arrived in the northeastern US with some undeniably cold weather and even a bit of snow -- a fitting background for the fifth annual holiday edition of Directions.  Continuing the tradition of years past, this shorter issue is a way of sharing the gift of time. Less for us to write, and less for you to read! We'd also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped make 2007 a record year for Knowledge Street, be they family, friends, colleagues, customers or all of the above.

In September 2003, the first issue of Directions went out to a bunch of folks we already knew. Over the years it's been gratifying to see a growing number of "mystery readers." These are people who've subscribed at the Web site but who are otherwise unknown to us. So a special holiday greeting to all of you. We hope you'll continue to find Directions worth reading in the year ahead. If you're ever in the neighborhood, drop in and say hello!

Best of Directions: 2007

In 2004, we ran our first "Best of" collection, publishing links to some of the articles published earlier in the year. And we've done it every year since then, so we're doing it again. These are articles that we liked ourselves, as well as those that seemed to interest our readers. That's based on the number of hits on a given title, as well as feedback received through email or other channels.

If you haven't read these yet, you have another chance. Or if you have, here's a chance to read them again!

Windshield Wiper Knowledge - Learning is a natural human activity; best practices emerge of their own accord and spread with very little outside intervention. However, this kind of knowledge can also be lost, since you only know a thing when you need to know it.

Tyrants and Bullies and Louts (oh my!) - Proper etiquette plays an important role in human communication, and rude or socially inept users can undermine knowledge sharing programs. Look for this to get worse before it gets better, as new collaboration tools open up new opportunities to offend, or be offended.

Neat or Scruffy? - There's a fundamental division in the ranks of KM practitioners between those who like a structured approach and those who are fine with a messy one, as long as it works. The truth is that informal, grassroots programs may succeed where centralized, enterprise initiatives fail.

An Offer You Can't Refuse? - This is a real-life anecdote, to make the point that in the real world, there are few offers people really can't refuse. Person-to-person contacts, respect and communications through trusted networks can buy you more than money, power or fame.

Lists of Many Colors - Black lists and white lists are widely used tactics to control spam, but "gray lists" may be able to reduce spam by as much as 90%, without doing any content analysis or key word checking. How can that be?

It's the Vision Thing - People resist change, and it sometimes takes a compelling vision to break down the barriers. For the World Health Organization, it was the vision of a global flu pandemic that led them to rethink their operating model and develop a more agile, efficient response mechanism.

If there's another article you think should have made the list, please let us know. If we have any reader requests, we'll run them next month.

Son of Good Clicks

Some people like to manage their charitable giving at year end, while other folks like to make it happen along the way. In either case, it's something the Web has made easier and more interesting.

In previous years, we've written about "good click" programs. The idea is that sponsoring organizations make small donations in exchange for every click on a posted link. There's a nice collection of these at The Non Profits, which will let you do everything from fight hunger to save baby seals. No actual cash leaves your pocket -- all you do is click.

However, if you're a little more flush, there are many other possibilities. Two we've written about before are Kiva.org, a micro loan site, and OLPC, which is dedicated to providing laptops for children in the third world. At The Heifer Project you can buy farm animals for people in developing countries, and at The Innocence Project you can fund DNA testing and help reform the US judicial system. Earlier this year, we were happy to help launch a site for A Leg To Stand On, which funds prosthetics and medical outreach for children in developing countries. There are also sites like Just Give, designed to help you find a charity that's right for you, and Guidestar, which provides detailed information on some 1.7 million non-profits.

If you had a good year, why not pass some of that goodness along?

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