Category: 12. Knowledge

Is everything preordained?

According to ‘The Science of Fate’ by Cambridge scientist Hannah Critchlow, your future may be more predictable than you think Everything about you is fated, from your love or hate of garlic, your academic success, your expanding waistline or the cancer that will eventually kill you Everything is determined by your genes and environment If …

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Leonardo paints knowledge path

According to The 50th Law by 50 Cent and Robert Greene, knowledge in the mid-fifteenth century had hardened into rigid compartments viz: Philosophy and scholasticism The Arts Science The Occult – dark knowledge Leonardo da Vinci was then a youth, the illegitimate son of a notary so lacking the usual formal education – hence his …

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Current knowledge levels

Many, perhaps most, developed nation companies are brainwork companies nowadays i.e. at least 33% of their employees have degrees or equivalent Clearly, all top jobs require best brains/ problem solvers – there’s little routine work for them – it’s their ideas, decisions, tactics and plans, actions and people skills that are needed most But the …

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Knowledge measures needed

Management guru Peter Drucker once said: “In the knowledge economy, everyone is a volunteer, but we have trained our managers to manage conscripts” – he might have added that managers act this way because they lack the measures and understanding needed to maximise the knowledge productivity of their teams It’s another productivity gap afflicting most …

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National knowledge Indices

Developed economies are now ‘knowledge economies’ Knowledge has become the most valued input resource on which national growth depends – it’s needed for such as: Entrepreneurship Innovation, R&D Product, process and software design That said, a World Bank report claims that most nations fail to realise the knowledge they have available to them and so the …

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UK skills shortages

Carolyn Fairbairn, Director General of the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) claims it is ‘absolutely vital’ that UK businesses have access to migrant workkers from the EU ‘to mitigate intense workforce pressures’ Otherwise, British businesses and employers would no longer be able to compete – firms would be unable to get the staff they need …

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Are we equipped for the digital revolution?

The UK’s future prosperity, growth, productivity, exports and ability to attract inward investment all depend on how the nation responds to the challenges of the digital revolution However, according to Julia Adamson of the BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT: “Unlike earlier technological revolutions which created opportunities for low, medium and high skilled workers, those …

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Train in what employers need, not what employees like

According to a report by the OECD – Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – and the University of Warwick Institute for Employment Research: “Many employees say their skills are not used effectively at work” Encouraging employers  to make the most of their employees’ skills can improve productivity, reduce inequality and contribute to economic growth …

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Knowledge ladders

All animals, humans included, are born with a brain within which resides an instinctive control system, ticking away 24/ 7 much like a Microsoft operating system This subconscious system controls most of what we need to survive and protect ourselves, procreate, feel pain and pleasure It also stores knowledge acquired by learning by rote and practice …

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Skills mismatches, training failures

A report by the IPPR – Institute of Public Policy Research – claims the number of  over-educated UK workers has increased by a third over the past decade – companies are failing to make use of their skills There is also a mismatch between employees’ training and what employers find useful And yet: “About a quarter of …

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