John Moravec and Knowmads

Here is an interesting post from John Moravec about knowledge in the 21st century.

 Are you a KNOWMAD?  

 

Knowmads in Society 3.0

A knowmad is what Moravec (2008a) terms a nomadic knowledge and innovation worker – that is, a creative, imaginative, and innovative person who can work with almost anybody, anytime, and anywhere. Moreover, knowmads are valued for the personal knowledge that they possess, and this knowledge gives them a competitive advantage. Industrial society is giving way to knowledge and innovation work. Whereas the industrialization of Society 1.0 required people to settle in one place to perform a very specific role or function, the jobs associated with knowledge and information workers have become much less specific in regard to task and place. Moreover, technologies allow for these new paradigm workers to work either at a specific place, virtually, or any blended combination. Knowmads can instantly reconfigure and recontextualize their work environments, and greater mobility is creating new opportunities. Consider, for example, coffee shops. These environments have become the workplace of choice for many knowmads. What happens when the investment banker sitting next to the architect have a conversation? What new ideas, products, and services might be created?

The remixing of places and social relationships is also impacting education. Students in Knowmad Society should learn, work, play, and share in almost any configuration. But there is little evidence to support any claim that education is moving to the 3.0 paradigm.

Knowmads:

1. Are not restricted to a specific age.
2. Build their personal knowledge through explicit information gathering and tacit experiences, and leverage their personal knowledge to produce new ideas.
3. Are able to contextually apply their ideas and expertise in various social and organizational configurations.
4. Are highly motivated to collaborate, and are natural networkers, navigating new organizations, cultures, and societies.
5. Purposively use new technologies to help them solve problems and transcend geographical limitations.
6. Are open to sharing what they know, and invite the open access to information, knowledge and expertise from others.
7. Can unlearn as quickly as they learn, adopting new ideas and practices as necessary.
8. Thrive in non-hierarchical networks and organizations.
9. Develop habits of mind and practice to learn continuously.
10. Are not afraid of failure.

(Note: List inspired by Cobo, 2008)

When we compare the list of skills required of knowmads to the outcomes of mainstream education, we wonder: What are we educating for? Are we educating to create factory workers and bureaucrats? Or, are we educating to create innovators, capable of leveraging their imagination and creativity?