Industries have changed…48M of 137M workers in the US can be classified as knowledge workers (Source: McKinsey Quarterly). The percentage of the knowledge stored in your own mind that is needed to do your job has decreased from 75% in 1986, to 15-20% in 1997 to 8-10% in 2006 (Source: Carnegie-Mellon University).
With this decentralized and complex work environment today, a leader needs to connect employees and remove barriers so that they have the knowledge/tools/learning required to execute their jobs. If the information required for decision-making is not readily accessible or timely, it is often useless. This is especially so when the employee population is large, geographically diverse and virtual.
This knowledge, the context for how people think, is the input into decision-making. Companies will receive a competitive advantage when they enable the internal exchange of insights that help employees think differently as they make decisions and take actions. If knowledge is not challenged to grow, it perishes fast.
“We make our decisions, and then our decisions turn around and make us.” – F.W. Boreham
Do you have the knowledge for effective decision-making?
