by
definition
Peter
Drucker was the first (that we know of) to coin the term, Knowledge
Worker. He describes the character of knowledge workers: Knowledge
Workers are not satisfied with work that is only a livelihood.
Their aspirations and their view of themselves are those of
the "professional" or "intellectual." They demand that knowledge
become the basis for accomplishment.
Knowledge
workers expect to achieve and they want to be measured for
their actual performance. Knowledge workers require that the
demands be made on them by knowledge rather than by bosses
- by objectives rather than by people. They require a performance-oriented
organization rather than an authority-oriented organization.
Although Knowledge Workers respect and acknowledge authority
and responsibility within the hierarchical structure, they
also recognize that knowledge work itself knows no hierarchy
- knowledge is either relevant to a given task or irrelevant
to it. The task decides not the name, the age, or the budget
of the discipline, or the rank of the individual plying it.
Knowledge
then has to be organized as a team in which the task decides
who is in charge, when, for what, and for how long. (See The
Age of Discontinuity, by Peter Drucker, 1968.)
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 by
experience
Knowledge
Workers are a flexible and interconnected team that comes together
for days or weeks, designs a strategy, executes the tasks, synthesizes
the results and ships a product for the participants that recalls
their experience and the outcomes that emerged from their experience.
The
same team of knowledge workers do not work together every day.
Knowledge workers rarely work with the exact same KreW twice.
KreWs
consist of knowledge workers with varying degrees of experience.
Each time a team of knowledge workers gather they are joined
by an explorer (potential knowledge worker). The team is made
up of teachers and learners, experts and stewards.
So
how can we be a high performance team when we've never met?
How can we understand the work if we've never been here before?
The processes and tools that we have discovered since being
a part of the MG Taylor network give us a common language,
common understanding, and common purpose.
The knowledge workers of the MG Taylor and Borgess Health
Alliance ValueWebs™ come together from all over the country
and the local Kalamazoo area to work in the NavCenter and
support activities and events.
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