Business Skills - General & Miscellaneous, Human Resources - Intellectual, Capital & Knowledge Management, Change Management, Industrial Management, Business - General & Miscellaneous

The Tribal Knowledge Paradox

Name: The Tribal Knowledge Paradox
Author: Leonard Bertain
ISBN: 9780974160115

by Leonard Bertain

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Overview

It tells the story about energizing the organization (high speed action) and incubating both “leadership” and “corporate culture” best practices through the War on Waste and thus establishing the roles that all employees play in business success. But it adds another dimension with the inclusion of the role that knowledge, particularly Tribal Knowledge, plays in any corporation. Leonard Bertain has also included Insights at the end of each chapter as a guide to the reader.

But the real addition to this book is the discussion of what is called the “Tribal Knowledge Paradox.” The owner of the business in the fictionalized story is the student of the book’s illustrious training consultant (Dr. Elbie) who leads him to an understanding of what it is.

But why call it “The Tribal Knowledge Paradox?” What does Tribal Knowledge have to do with The War on Waste? It turns out that effective change requires an honest engagement of all people and a consequent understanding of the company’s Tribal Knowledge. And that observation is one of the major discoveries of this process.

Tribal Knowledge is the collective wisdom and capabilities of the organization. It is the sum of all the knowledge and skills. It is the knowledge used to deliver, to support, or to develop value for customers. But it is also all the knowledge that is wrong, imprecise, and useless. It is knowledge of the informal power structure and process or how things really work and how they ought to. It is knowledge of who constrains the process and who facilitates it. It is the knowledge that is squirreled away by employees who feel a need to protect their jobs by not sharing the information needed to do a job. This is part of the totality of the Tribal Knowledge.

We hope you enjoy the read.

Leonard Bertain
Oakland, CA

About the Author, Leonard Bertain

Len has led strategic change in more than 150 companies affecting 50,000-plus employees using his highly successful War on Waste program over the last 25 years. He brings a number of proprietary tools to this innovation Program. During one two-year period, he produced a 3,805 percent ROI for 23 companies (audited by the State of California) with an approach that focused on motivating all employees, not simply changing operational policies. Over his career, Len’s leadership has guided the implementation more than 10,000 successful ideas, producing more than $1 billion in profits for the companies that acted on them. Len has positioned companies for acquisition and assisted with acquisitions. Clients include Ford, General Electric, General Motors, Wells-Fargo and Ready Pac Produce.

He has been:
Chairman, Founder & CEO of Global Collaborative Health - 2 years
President, Chronic Disease Reversal Clinic, Los Gatos, California - 3 1/2 years
President, Bertain Consulting Group 25 years
Author, “The New Turnaround” 1993