“Everything has been said before, but since nobody listens we have to keep going back and beginning all over again.” —André Gide (1869–1951) How do we rebuild trust in expertise in a world filled with conspiracy theories and distrust of institutions? Experts and leaders have to shift their values toward transparency, honesty, and humility in their communications and actions, being upfront about the limitations and uncertainties of their knowledge, acknowledging mistakes and failures when they occur, and being open to feedback and critiques. By showing that they are not infallible or above acc ..read more

Joan Westenberg promotes the idea of POSSE (publish on your own site & syndicate elsewhere) or what I have called social media’s home base — blogs. This may be just another blog, but it’s mine. Westenberg also promotes real simple syndication (RSS). So do I. Therefore, the idea that, “curation is the last hope of intelligent discourse” resonated with me. As algorithms churn out vast quantities of information with varying degrees of accuracy and quality, the discerning judgment of human curators is the only defence against the tide of misinformation and mediocrity. Human curators bring nua ..read more

In a digitally interconnected world, those in positions of leadership should focus on helping their networks become smarter, more resilient, and able to make better decisions. Networks move information faster than institutions or markets. While the Cluetrain Manifesto (1999) stated that markets are conversations, today networks are memes that spread instantaneously, without conversation. The borderless and liquid transmission of information makes for a global oral cacophony. After four years, no government has stepped-up to make us smarter in dealing with the SARS-2 virus. The pandemic continu ..read more

I just presented at the first annual European PKM Summit, with a formal presentation yesterday and a casual chat today. Next year’s summit is scheduled for 14/15 March 2025. Some of what I covered is posted at 20 years of PKM. I mentioned several projects and resources which are available on this site. What Domino’s Pizza learned about implementing PKM practices — Solo change agents set you free Changing the corporate university at Cigna 2010/2011 — working smarter case study Reforming the government of Finland’s operating practices particularly moving toward a more collaborative culture — tow ..read more

I write this blog mostly for myself, though it’s great to have people join in and create conversations. “But there’s also a part of writing, of online writing particularly, blogging, that’s all the humble without the security, that’s full of risk, that’s vulnerable even if what you’re saying isn’t necessarily personal or deeply meaningful or anything you or anyone else even really cares about. This thing we do, blogging, is crazy. Really. What a trip, what a concept, what an experience. It’s a place where the public share is instant and your little words can tromp their way across the world b ..read more

Ten years after publishing Seeking Perpetual Beta, the latest e-book in the perpetual beta series is here. This book is based on my writing for the past two years, with a particular focus on automation with artificial intelligence. The previous edition, perpetual beta 2022, is still available at a reduced price. This year also marks twenty years of blogging. I may take a short break later this year, after my last scheduled public PKM workshop for 2024 but I intend to keep on writing. As I mentioned on Mastodon, this is how I write now — I have no plan. There is no schedule. If I see something ..read more

As we get inundated with new knowledge and information regurgitated by large language models and generative pre-trained transformers — time for meaning-making becomes critical. Meaning-making is the process by which we interpret situations or events in the light of our previous knowledge and experience. It is a matter of identity: it is who we understand ourselves to be in relation to the world around us.” —Dave Gurteen Are we swimming in a world of meaninglessness? So if you ever wonder why things feel so meaningless nowadays… well, it’s because, in a real sense, we’ve engineered a world w ..read more

Marshall McLuhan has influenced much of my work and I have used the tetrad from the Laws of Media many times to understand emerging technologies. A recent article in The Free Press by Benjamin Carlson was a refreshing read by someone who had just discovered McLuhan. I started reading McLuhan’s work in 1995. I first stumbled upon Marshall McLuhan a year ago on YouTube. Within a minute or two of watching a clip, I was amazed: here was a man who, in 1977, seemed to be describing the dislocating experience of living in 2023, and he did so with more insight than people living today. That the words ..read more

This blog turned 20 last month — dead blog walking. One of the big challenges that the growth of AI [GPT, LLM, etc.] presents us is connecting with people — not machines — for our sensemaking. A personal blog is a human way to connect. There is no algorithm to filter what others read. They can subscribe, on their terms, and with their chosen technology thanks to real simple syndication (RSS). The great thing about blogging is that there are few rules. You can write as you like, when you like, and as often as you like. “When you write a blog post, you can say as much or as little as you want ..read more

If you don’t use it, you will lose it. Automate what was once a skill-developed process and those skills will decline. “Cognitive automation powered by advanced intelligent technologies is increasingly enabling organizations to automate more of their knowledge work tasks. Although this often offers higher efficiency and lower costs, cognitive automation exacerbates the erosion of human skill and expertise in automated tasks. Accepting the erosion of obsolete skills is necessary to reap the benefits of technology—however, the erosion of essential human expertise is problematic if workers remai ..read more