Work Literacy and what I plan to do about it

Dr. Tony Karrer whose work I admire greatly has encouraged me to blog about a new project called Work Literacy.  What is work literacy? From the Work Literacy blog:

Work Literacy is based on the beliefs that:

With the growth of new technologies, explosion of new information, and accessibility of experts around the world, there’s a growing gap between the work practices and skills that most knowledge workers possess and the resources available to them.

As knowledge workers we need practical skills, methods and tools that will improve our effectiveness and help us stay on top of our game.

This is an issue that’s evolving quickly and we need a way to start discussing the implications, sharing ideas and learning how to better manage our work and learning.

Tony and Michele Martin are spearheading this project along with some very talented people. This project addresses a need that I’m passionate about as I see friends and colleagues who either are or will be affected by the growing digital divide.

I have recently begun speaking in various forums such as ASTD Houston chapter and other organizations on Social Networking which is certainly related to future work literacy but I think Tony and Michele are hitting the nail on the head.

I understand how easy it is to get comfortable in a job or career path that seems stable and then suddenly find that everything has changed seemingly overnight.  It happened to me several years ago and I vowed not to let it happen again.  As a result I have focused much of my time helping and encouraging others to take baby steps across the digital divide and now I’m in a position to scale the effort up significantly.

And what do I plan to do?

• Speak on this and related topics to help people understand that this is just another set of skill to be learned
• Work to remove the stigma (with individuals and IT departments) associated with online networking and Web 2.0 tools in the Enterprise
• Use professional organizations as a platform to address Work Literacy issues in a way that they find fun and interesting
• Work to help people understand the value proposition of using technology as leverage to overcome the compression of time and space that is occurring as a result of the web
• Be an example of a person who uses the best practices of Work Literacy skills to be more effective in all of my roles as Director, Board Member, Husband, Dad, Speaker, and Colleague.

Look for more information here on what’s happening with work literacy, especially in Houston.