RSSChallenges of the modern worker: element 4 “on top”
By Marcel Bijlsma | In EN, team blog | 6 reacties.
Today, together with Ruud, I dwelled further on the core challenges of the modern worker. We already introduced the core concepts of in sync, in touch and in flow, but we came up with a fourth called “in control” or maybe more appropriate “on top”. Key is that the concept of “on top” accounts for the needed craftmanship of the modern worker. As in the old times real craftsman knew their tools inside out, we think modern workers should be knowledgeable also on their tooling. This craftmanship has been lost for many end-users for some years now. People don’t really know their tools anymore: how to use them, how to customize them (or even repair them as in the old medieval craftman times). All is left to the helpdesk. As some qualitative (not scientifically in any sense) proof-of-the-pudding: many role model type of modern workers I know are indeed quite knowledgeable. They like to experiment with new tools, know somehow by heart all the advantages and disadvantages of their tools and have many stories of the cumbersome time it took them to master their installation and use.
Could it be that “on top” indeed is a core concept supporting the concepts of in sync, in touch and in flow?
Tags: Add new tag, craftmanship, in control, in flow, in sync, in touch, new ways of working, on top, tools
I like this notion. Somehow I associate it with my own notion of ‘being the owner of my own learning path’, which of course encompasses a bigger skillset than being a master of my tools and having them arranged in effective routines.
I like this too. It clearly describes what I felt after getting my info feeds right. Before that I always had the idea I wasn’t ‘on top’ of what’s happening in the world. I feel I am now, more than ever. Although I wonder if ‘on top’ isn’t essentially part of ‘in sync’ and ‘in touch’…
You seem to interpret ‘on top’ as ‘on top of your information’, which is more strict than what we meant to say. We mean ‘on top of your tools’, and this is where the parallel with craftmanship is. Craftsmen knew their tools inside out, they maintained and repaired them, they even developed them further. In that sense, ‘in sync’ is more about knowing what’s happening in the world, ‘on top’ is knowing how to be effective which your tools and processes.
I also like Ton’s comment, in the sense that he couples ‘on top’ to a personal learning path. Here the parallel takes an interesting turn. First, the old craftsmen were guided along their learning path in a master-apprentice relation. Second, although mastering tools and processes could take years or decades, the tools and processes themselved developed very slowly. Nowadays, we all seem to be apprentices without masters, and the tools and processes develop so fast that we continually have to master them…
This feels to me more like an academic discussion: “On Top” for me is the result of being in sync, in flow, and in touch. But why discuss about the definition. We are at the Telematica Instituut “On Top of Technology” already
“In Control” is more to the point, but I would say “in flow” covers the craftmanship. If you do not master the art, you will never reach the state of flow.
I fully agree on the part of craftmanship and the master/apprentice remarks. The more experienced users are the masters: because of the quick development of tooling few get to be master in the old sense of the word. Which is only logical, considering there are now a lot more developers and scientists than there ever were in the last centuries. This makes progress go so fast, that knowledge is multiplying faster and faster. We humans can’t keep up anymore and cannot be master in every tool. So more and more important is the art of making decisions: which tools to use? Who to contact? Do I really need it, will it speed up my work? And many times answers are closer than you think, as I experienced recently when looking for CSS-magicians and ended up contacting a close friend
Thanks for the comment, Ruud. Yep I overlooked part of your point. I’ll rethink ‘on top’, ‘on sync’, etc soon. I do agree with the fact that knowing your tools and processes is very important. A colleague of mine asked on his internal blog: “Have you ever learned to be a knowledge worker?” This question relates to the way we do work but also to the tools we use. The funny (and strange) thing is, we never learned how to use Outlook. We just started using it. And, in time, we learned there are much more efficient and effective ways to use the tool. But companies aren’t training their employees to do so…
As promised I would come back to this topic and the earlier posts on ‘Challenges of the modern worker’. I went back and thought about ‘in sync’, ‘in touch’, ‘in flow’ and ‘on top/in control’. Again, I like your approach: the way you define the key issues of knowledge workings in 4 terms.
What would be interesting is to discuss how these terms relate (or maybe even overlap). Being ‘in flow’ has everything to do with the other terms. And maybe there’s even a one-way arrow (prerequisite) between the other terms and ‘in flow’?
I think my main confusion comes from the fact we can use the terms interchangeably. (Of course it all about definitions and you define well!) For instance, being ‘in sync’, you say relates to being able to put info in context, but also being ‘in sync’ with people, groups of people and activity. However being ‘in touch’ is about people, networks, etc. too. People stuff. So, I would take away the people stuff in ‘in sync’. Clearly distinguish the terms: one is about context and info, one is about people/groups/networks, one is about tools and the last one is about the way we do things or like to do things.
Finally, I’d choose ‘in control’ over ‘on top’, because the other’s also use ‘in’ and being ‘in control’ clearly depicts what we experience when we productively use our tools (hammers, Outlook, feedreader, pencil, etc.).
Hope this was useful! Good luck with your research and look forward to read more!