Fourth Revolution resources: the K.E.E.N.
The K.E.E.N is an acronym for the Knowledge Enhancing Exchanging Networker, the Elite of the new Collaborative Age beyond the Fourth Revolution.
The 'E's can also stand for Exploring, Experimenting...
General K.E.E.N. resources
Seth Godin blog is a daily inspiration for the behaviors of the K.E.E.N. Register to his blog to receive a daily dose of candid and sometimes corrosive thought about the right and the wrong behaviors in the world to come.
You can also read his books.
The most notable are 'Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?'. A great book about taking the initiative without asking permission and becoming indispensable. A real guide for the K.E.E.N. behavior in an organization.
Another great book by Seth Godin is a very small but enlightning book called 'the Dip'. The subtitle says it all: a little book that teaches you when to quit (and when to stick). Great guidance for this critical skill.
Seth Godin deeply disrupts the publishing industry - the Fourth Revolution way. Find out more on the Domino Project
Personal development and improvement resources
There are numerous excellent resources on personal improvement. We choose here some of those we find most useful.
'What got you here won't get you there' by Marshall Goldsmith is an excellent reference on the behaviors that are crucial in organizations and in life.
Marshall Goldsmith's talks and interviews are very inspiring about what to do to improve oneself.
Here below an example of Marshall Goldsmith videos, about the qualities of the executive of the future:
Motivation of the K.E.E.N.
This excellent video on a speech by Dan Pink about what motivates people shows very clearly that the usual motivators of the Industrial Age - the carrot and the stick - are of no use when tasks have even a remote cognitive content and are not just mechanical. The graphism of the video is great also... enjoy!
How to achieve excellence for the K.E.E.N.
How can we achieve excellence in the domain we choose? There is an excellent book by Geoff Colvin - Talent is overrated that addresses the issue of how to become excellent in a particular field. It's not because of some innate specificity or just because of sheer hard work. "Deliberate practice" is what Geoff Colving identifies as a key enable. That's a lot of practice clearly, thousands of hours, not particularly fun. And it is targeted practice, following a well designed improvement program, and with immediate feedback to improve on the spot. Definitely a key book to read for those who want to reach excellence in their chosen field. A key K.E.E.N. piece of knowledge and practice. The short video below gives a brief summary of the book thesis.
K.E.E.N. critical skills
Listening is a critical skill. Learn about better listening skills in this great presentation by Julian Treasure, how to listen better, on TED of course!
Building on failure is another skill of the K.E.E.N. This interview of Seth Godin is a real eye-opener on the power of failure, and in general, the skills of the K.E.E.N. Seth gives also deep insights on the new world that is awaiting us: Remember - climbing the career ladder is bust as a concept!
