Learning to Fly: Practical Knowledge Management from Leading and Learning Organizations

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. This edition also comes with a supporting CD-Rom with many useful and intelligent interactive tools for the budding knowledge manager.

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.