Learning to Fly, with free online content: Practical Knowledge Management from Leading and Learning Organizations - Softcover

Collison, Chris; Parcell, Geoff

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1841125091 ISBN 13: 9781841125091

Publisher: Capstone, 2004

Synopsis

Today, no one is, nor can be, an expert in everything. In every challenge, it is easy to feel that you don't know enough to keep up with the accelerating pace of change inside our organisations, let alone the world outside. Start with the assumption that somebody somewhere has already done what you are trying to do. How can you find out whom, and learn from them? Learning to Fly shows exactly how to put knowledge management theory into practice, sharing the tools used and the experience and insights gained by two leading practitioners.

Completely updated for the second edition, Learning to Fly shares the authors’ experiences from BP and other leading knowledge organisations.and incorporates new material on implementation and best practice, including free online resources.

"Chris Collison and Geoff Parcell show how new ideas and tools are making working and learning inseparable."
―Peter Senge

 

About this title

About the Author

Chris Collison is a champion for knowledge sharing and an agent for change. He has presented to audiences at business schools and at conferences around the world, and is a regular contributor to specialist knowledge management publications. During his career he has advised government departments and worked with business leaders in many organizations, sharing the practical experiences he gained whilst working in BP's knowledge management team. As Director of Change & Knowledge Management for Centrica plc, he is responsible for developing organizational capability across this international energy and essential services company. Chris is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD.

Geoff Parcell is a master practitioner. He has a wealth of experience gained from a diverse career in BP that has taken him from Vietnam to Brazil, and from geophysicist to facilitator. He was a core member of BP's knowledge management team during the late 90s, creating environments for sharing excellence in operations, organizational capability and innovation. He has just returned to BP after an 18 month secondment to the UN in Geneva. There he helped create an holistic approach for sharing experiences of the response to AIDS between those involved - communities, cities, civic society groups, NGOs, UN agencies and businesses.

From the Back Cover

"The first generation of knowledge management has come and gone. The second generation which promises both deeper insights and greater impact, will be less about data and more about the social nature of knowledge, less about ‘capture and retrieval’ and more about innovating and sharing, and ultimately more about know-how rather than know about - the only knowledge that matters in any pragmatic institution. Chris Collison and Geoff Parcell show how new ideas and tools are making working and learning inseparable."
―Peter Senge, Senior Lecturer, MIT and Chair, SOL (Society for Organizational Learning)

"This book leads the way in communicating the purpose and practice of knowledge management. It offers clear and straightforward answers to the 'why? what? and how?' Chris Collison and Geoff Parcell are immensely practical in their approach to KM, yet manage to communicate a clear vision of 'the big picture' of how an integrated approach can impact business performance."
―Dr Christine van Winkelen, Director, Henley Knowledge Management Forum

"Collison and Parcell compellingly demonstrate how the combination of sharing behaviors, smart processes and enabling technology have made BP a world leader in knowledge management."
―Steve Ballmer, President and Chief Executive Officer, Microsoft Corporation

"This book goes beyond providing practical techniques for sharing knowledge. It provides a participatory approach to learning. People take responsibility and solve their own problems, by learning from others. It has caused us to rethink our whole approach to capacity building."
―Marcel Boisard, Executive Director, The United Nations Institute for Training and Research

"With distinctive clarity and simplicity, Learning to Fly combines real practice with rich experience to meet the need to leverage knowhow in a network-centric world. The authors have codified a set of proven tools and processes for teams and organizations to learn before, during and after, in order to dramatically improve their performance."
―Kent Greenes, Chief Knowledge Officer, SAIC

"Here’s what we have been waiting for - a practical way to apply knowledge management for immediate and identifiable business success. The authors have extensive experience in doing that and we should listen to them carefully. Just in time too, as the challenges of the future - wireless Internet, e-Business, continuing mergers, de-mergers and globalization - demand that we get on with the business of KM. This book makes it possible.
Well done, guys."
―Col. Ed Guthrie, US Army (retd.)

"There are very few knowledge management books written by actual practitioners and this is one of them. BP has led the charge in KM and these authors were there. A fine place to start one’s KM education!"
―Larry Prusak, Executive Director, IBM Institute for Knowledge Management

"Chris Collison and Geoff Parcell provide a thoughtful and action oriented guide to knowledge management. It should be required reading for both students, practitioners and, perhaps most important, for those executives that have to deliver on the promise of leveraging knowledge assets as a mechanism for gaining competitive advantage."
―Dr. John C. Henderson, The Richard C. Shipley Professor of Management, Boston University

From the Inside Flap

Deliver more, and do it with fewer resources.

Isn't that the productivity challenge that everyone in business is facing today? A key way to achieve this is by sharing know-how. That is, by using and adapting what someone else has already learned. Many people know instinctively they should be doing this, but struggle to know how to get started.

Today, no one is, nor can be, an expert in everything. In every challenge, it is easy to feel that you don’t know enough to keep up with the accelerating pace of change inside your organization, let alone the world outside. Start with the assumption that somebody somewhere has already done what you are trying to do. How can you find out whom, and learn from them?

This significantly updated and enhanced edition of Learning to Fly shows exactly how to put knowledge management theory into practice, sharing the tools and insights of two leading practitioners. In Learning to Fly Chris Collison and Geoff Parcell share their experiences from a wide range of the world's leading and learning knowledge management organizations. It is a practical, pragmatic workbook packed with hints and tips to help managers put knowledge management into action immediately.

Edition details

• Publisher: Capstone
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1841125091
• ISBN 13: 9781841125091
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 336