When I was an undergraduate at MIT, I was told one good way to find a
major. First, wander around the Institute until you're lost. Next, start
reading the jokes and cartoons on the lab doors. Finally, when you find
the jokes really funny, you've found the right department.
The Internet is the same -- What's your favorite Learning Organization
joke?
In a more serious vein, I'm currently a principal engineer at a non-profit
advanced development contractor with a largely defense-oriented business.
We're in the end stages of completing a "Knowledge Management System"
study, and I've found the work to be a lot of fun. In fact, it's the sort
of work I'd like to do more of, and it may be the work that I've been
(unknowingly) working towards since I started my PhD. Eventually, if you
can forgive a moment of hubris, I'd like to be responsible for organizing,
delivering, and "leveraging" the knowledge assets of a research or
development organization. The "Learning Organization" concept appears to
be one critical aspect to performing successfully in my desired position.
I've started to aim towards the title of "Chief Knowledge Officer," after
the seminal article in CIO magazine. It sounds more professional than
"Encyclopediac Synthesist" which was my first choice.
Some references and pointers:
The home page for my chief source of support:
An article I wrote to explain the Internet to other metallurgists, now a
year-old and terribly out-of-date:
http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/Meltsner-9504.html
An ARPA project I'm involved in to develop engineering services for
delivery over the Internet:
A too-cool-for-words site on business in the '90s that I like to read:
Ken Meltsner
Concurrent Technologies Corporation
1450 Scalp Ave.
Johnstown PA 15904
meltsner@ctc.com; (814) 269-2881
--meltsner@ctc.com (Ken Meltsner)
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>