Gurteen Knowledge Letter
Issue 259 – January 2022
A very Happy New Year to you.
I have some exciting news. Last year John Hovell, Donita Volkwijn, Saule Menane, and I ran a 1-week online workshop on Conversational Leadership.
This year we are pleased to announce that we are rerunning it with the Project Management Center for Excellence at the University of Maryland as one of their Executive Project Management programs.
You will find full details here, along with a registration page.
Contents
- What does Greta Thunberg know about global warming? Diddly squat!
- Build a light-house not a chapel
- KM Global Network: KM Course 2022
- Do we need a second Reformation?
- Tweet of the month November 2021
- Please support my work
- Unsubscribe
- Gurteen Knowledge Letter
What does Greta Thunberg know about global warming? Diddly squat!
What does Greta Thunberg know about global warming? What do you or I know about global warming? Diddly squat! (btw no disrespect to Greta)
We don't know stuff; some of us trust the scientific community, others do not.
Well, not even that; we trust the sound-bites of our favorite mainstream or social media channels' evaluation of what the scientific community says.
Think about it. The chances are you have never read a scientific paper on global warming, and even if you did, unless you are a climate scientist, you would not know how to evaluate it.
Most people on either side of the debate on any complex issue know anything about it. Yet, we fight and argue over the issue.
We live in a dangerous knowledge delusion that we know far more than we do. In reality, as individuals, we know precious little. Knowledge is communal.
For some of our most important beliefs, we have no evidence at all, except that people we love and trust hold these beliefs.
Considering how little we know, the confidence we have in our beliefs is preposterous – and it is also essential.
Build a light-house not a chapel
The quotation Lighthouses are more useful than churches is often misattributed to Benjamin Franklin. However, he wrote this in a letter to his wife in 1757 after describing a narrow escape from a shipwreck off the British coast.
The bell ringing for church, we went thither immediately, and with hearts full of gratitude, returned sincere thanks to God for the mercies we had received.
Were I a Roman Catholic, perhaps I should on this occasion vow to build a chapel to some saint; but as I am not, if I were to vow at all, it should be to build a light-house.
I rather like the quote as it neatly captures the spirit of the Enlightenment where the ideology of the Catholic Church was superseded by human reason.
And it reminds me of the story of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré that I visited some years ago when speaking at a conference in Quebec. The account is probably a myth, but I still find it enjoyable.
The Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré was established in 1658, after an intervention of the good Saint Anne.
The story goes that the crew of a small ship from Brittany was going up the St. Lawrence River, in order to emigrate to Canada, when suddenly a storm arose in the night.
Death was almost certain, when, remembering the good Saint Anne of their country, the Bretons promised her a sanctuary if she saved them from their peril.
In the early hours of the morning, their ship had drifted to dry land, and a blue sky was shining above their heads. They began building the chapel almost immediately.
Credit: Encyclopedia.com
I can't help but think Franklin knew the story.
KM Global Network: KM Course 2022
The KM Global Network (KMGN) is running an online KM course - a series of 21 interactive one-hour weekly sessions, starting 1st February 2022.
I will be giving one of the sessions on 1st March, where I will introduce participants to the Knowledge Café.
Take a look at the syllabus - there are some interesting sessions from some top names in KM - I think it's really good value for money.
You can learn more and register here.
Do we need a second Reformation?
In a recent blog post, Consolidation for Reformation, Henry Mintzberg, described the need for a second Reformation. Here is a clip:
What is known as the Reformation began with words on a door in Germany and ended with a realignment of power in Europe.
In 1517, with widespread outrage over corruption in the dominating religion, an obscure monk named Martin Luther challenged its prevailing authority by nailing a list of 95 theses (really grievances) to the door of one of its churches.
His words spread within weeks, carried by the new social medium of the time, the printing press.
A groundswell followed as angry people in communities confronted the corruption.
Eventually, new institutions formed, and some existing ones reformed. Much of the world changed.
Credit: Henry Mintzberg
I support Henry in his views, but we need to keep in mind that the Reformation led to the 30 Years War in Europe, which, in Wikipedia's words:
[The 30 Years War in Europe is] considered one of the most destructive wars in European history, estimates of total deaths caused by the conflict range from 4.5 to 8 million, while some areas of Germany experienced population declines of over 50%.
Credit: Wikipedia
The invention of the printing press fueled the Reformation, and it may be that we are having our Gutenberg moment. Social media is fueling a second Reformation, but like the first, however beneficial in the long term, it is likely to be initially extremely painful.
Tweet of the month November 2021
Here is my top tweet for December.
Legacy leaders are anointed and appointed. They are given power through authority and that authority can be removed ... Conversational leaders are different. Since we all have the power to speak ... anyone can be a conversational leader ...
Please help support my work.
I have been publishing the Gurteen Knowledge Letter every month for over 20 years, and most of you have been receiving it for 5 years or more. My Knowledge Café also recently had its 18th birthday in September 2020.
If you find my work valuable, please consider giving me a little support by donating $1 (or more) a month to become a Patron or making a small one-off contribution. This but will help cover some of my website hosting expenses.
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Gurteen Knowledge Letter
The Gurteen Knowledge Letter is a free monthly e-mail based newsletter. Its purpose is to stimulate thought about Conversational Leadership and Knowledge Management. You can find back issues here.
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David GURTEEN
Gurteen Knowledge
Fleet, United Kingdom
