Book Description
The Knowledge Evolution offers a unique and powerful road map for understanding knowledge creation, learning, and performance in everyday work. This book reframes current thinking by delving into the hidden world of knowledge supporting both individual and organizational performance, laying the foundation for the emerging art of knowledge management. Packed with best practices from leading edge companies, essential guidelines, design principles, analogies, and conceptual frameworks, it serves as a practical guidebook for mastering the Knowledge Era. It will help managers make more intelligent decisions about knowledge creation, reduce wasteful technology investments and lead to new ease and confidence in applying knowledge and learning principles for themselves and for their organizations.

Verna Allee delves into current thinking and practice to unravel the genetic code of knowledge itself. This revolutionary approach has surfaced a simple and elegant knowledge archetype. She demonstrates how this archetype can help us deal with complexity and suggests ways of self-organizing that make profound sense in today's networked enterprises. From strategies for core knowledge competencies to the key components of individual expertise, The Knowledge Evolution zeroes in on the critical success factors for the knowledge-based enterprise. What emerges is an approach to knowledge management that is simple enough to communicate at every level of the organization, yet rich enough to encompass all the complexity of modern enterprises.

Verna Allee is the founder of Integral Performance Group, a consulting practice in California that specializes in the learning organization, knowledge competencies, organizational systems change, systems thinking, total quality and learning, benchmarking support, best practices research, and strategic development. She holds a degree in the Study of Human Consciousness and her work is informed by a deep interest in intelligence, human development, cognition, intuition and consciousness. She is the author of Learning Links: Enhancing Individual and Team Performance, Pfeiffer and Co-Jossey Bass, 1996.

Synopsis
"The Knowledge Evolution" offers a unique and powerful road map for understanding knowledge creation, learning, and performance in everyday work. This book reframes current thinking by delving into the hidden world of knowledge supporting both individual and organizational performance, laying the foundation for the emerging art of knowledge management. Packed with best practices from leading edge companies, essential guidelines, design principles, analogies, and conceptual frameworks, it serves as a practical guidebook for mastering the Knowledge Era. It will help managers make more intelligent decisions about knowledge creation, reduce wasteful technology investments and lead to new ease and confidence in applying knowledge and learning principles for themselves and for their organizations. Verna Allee delves into current thinking and practice to unravel the genetic code of knowledge itself. This revolutionary approach has surfaced a simple and elegant knowledge archetype. She demonstrates how this archetype can help us deal with complexity and suggests ways of self-organizing that make profound sense in today's networked enterprises.

From strategies for core knowledge competencies to the key components of individual expertise, "The Knowledge Evolution" zeroes in on the critical success factors for the knowledge-based enterprise. What emerges is an approach to knowledge management that is simple enough to communicate at every level of the organization, yet rich enough to encompass all the complexity of modern enterprises. Verna Allee is the founder of Integral Performance Group, a consulting practice in California that specializes in the learning organization, knowledge competencies, organizational systems change, systems thinking, total quality and learning, benchmarking support, best practices research, and strategic development. She holds a degree in the Study of Human Consciousness and her work is informed by a deep interest in intelligence, human development, cognition, intuition and consciousness. She is the author of "Learning Links: Enhancing Individual and Team Performance", Pfeiffer and Co-Jossey Bass, 1996.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews   1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: A good book for leaders of knowledge-rich organizations., 8 May 1999 By A Customer It should come as no surprise that without knowledge, systems fail. In The Knowledge Evolution, Verna Allee focuses on an analysis of the role knowledge plays in contributing to the success of an organization. According to Allee, knowledge becomes of greater and greater importance as the validity and strength of an organization is called into question. Without a doubt, the availability of a strong knowledge base has, in many corporations, played a fundamental role in the company's survival. Presently, workers at numerous companies are struggling with the concept of how knowledge becomes a driving influence within their organization. Because it is intangible and hard to grasp a common understanding of what organizational knowledge is, leaders are finding it hard to capture, organize, and use knowledge as a tool. Verna attempts to establish a frame-work which lends itself to this understanding and provides today's corporate leaders with the tools to better make decisions regarding organizational knowledge. Allee provides a general understanding of how advancements in technology define corporate culture and how learning is effected by the widespread use of available technologies. Community relationships are also influenced by technology and leaders are being forced to rethink how organizations are structured and how knowledge is used to influence decision-making processes. Current conditions indicate that the future of companies -- how well prepared they will be to compete in the global economy -- will be determined by how well they understand and use knowledge. Allee provides a management road-map to get companies where they want to be regarding knowledge. Like it or not, the Knowledge Evolution is upon us. Allee identified some effective ways organizations should create, adapt and apply knowledge. This book is essential reading for leaders who want to win!  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   1 of 2 people found the following review helpful: Comprehensive, introductory text., 3 May 1999 By A Customer At times, The Knowledge Evolution delved too much into semantics and ontology, in an attempt to develop a "common language". At the time of publication (1997) this may have been relevant but the prevalence of "knowledge management glossaries" reveals that indeed a common language has emerged, making this specific content a bit of an arduous read. Perhaps a second edition is needed, especially since the proprietary value of this book is still not being addressed in current knowledge management (KM) literature. Current KM books almost exclusively focus on data, information and knowledge (DIK). The Knowledge Evolution visions past DIK and adds complex dimensions of meaning, wisdom and philosophy to the knowledge framework. If you do purchase this selection, I recommend writing unabashedly in the margins, or keeping a notebook on hand, connecting the theoretical constructs of knowledge and it's management discussed in the book to a personal context. By and large the scope of the book is very broad, looking inclusively at the field of KM. Since the writing of this book, specific sub-fields within KM have emerged i.e. data mining, group memory technologies, knowledge mapping etc. A reorganization of the content in this book along those lines (i.e. "procedural knowledge" with data mining, "functional knowledge" with knowledge mapping) was a worthwhile endeavor of this reader and would be a tremendous value-add to a second edition. By and large The Knowledge Evolution is a readable and comprehensive introductory text to the field of KM. The book is broad and encompasses so much of the theory and principles behind KM that the actual industry has yet achieve or implement everything discussed. With the enormous influx and popularity of KM books in the past two years I hadn't heard anything about The Knowledge Evolution and now having read it, I realize the book that all these current authors must have also read.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   1 of 2 people found the following review helpful: A penetrating look at the knowledge-organization connection., 14 Feb 1999 By A Customer Taking an organic systems view, the author explores how organizations acquire, manage, and transfer knowledge. Covers: the nature, role and order of knowledge; best practices; types of organizational structures that support knowledge sharing; technologies for knowledge building; developing knowledge strategies; and efforts to measure results. An very impressive gathering and integration of ideas about organization in the Knowledge Era. A first-rate book on a cutting-edge subject.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this) › See all 9 customer reviews...		Most Recent Customer Reviews Excellent Framework for building and creating knowledge. An excellent treatment of the subject matter. Provided insigts on knowledge learning and performance. Prepares us for the knowledge era, where knowledge is king. Read more Published on 3 April 1999 Impressive integration of theory, innovation & practicality! Verna quickly brings us all up to speedon the field of knowledge. As she reviews it, she compares and contrasts the current working theories and then integrates them into a... Read more Published on 23 Jan 1999 This is a wise book. If you are a manager, consultant, student, teacher and you want a good picture of the state of the art of the most strategic issue in organizations today - read this book. Read more Published on 25 April 1998 Confused about Knowledge Management? Read this book! Knowledge management is a fuzzy and unclear topic for a great many people - it was for me. Prior to Allee's book, most of what I could find on the topic was an attempt to sell me... Read more Published on 23 April 1998 Provides much greater depth about knowledge management This book delivers much-needed depth of insight for its stated target audience: "leadership teams who have the responsibility for developing, implementing, and supporting... Read more Published on 23 April 1998 Appropriate for the casual reader; light on concept content Knowledge management and intellectual capital are among the newest developments in business press, and the avalanche of titles about them threatens to bury the earnest student of... Read more Published on 15 April 1998 Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 9 customer reviews...