Innovations

The Knowledge Player – Serious Fun

by RQ Teasdale

Howdy from the hallowed halls of UW! I’ve spent this winter fighting with the Department of Motor Vehicles about my driver’s license. We have a philosophical disagreement. They believe that a man should be able to see to drive, while I don’t. The upshot is that they’ve taken my solar powered RV away and I’m back on foot. This is good in a way; I can spend more time at various quality-focused organizations without getting the urge to hit the road.

I’ve spent the last four and a half months secretly observing the doings in Financial Management with the intention of putting together a pocket guide to my favorite part of the UW. What I’ve learned during this time is much more than a senile citizen could ever hope for. I’ll tell you things have really changed since my pioneering 1949 book, “Quality on a Budget.” I saw grass roots quality efforts, I saw cutting edge strategic planning techniques, and I saw teams functioning at a very high level. But the most impressive thing I saw was the rollout of the Knowledge Worker (KW) concept in FM. Seeing (with my good eye) the success of this work and how it has become an integrated part of the FM culture has an old man wishing for younger days! In fact, the KW concept reminds me of something that I implemented while working as a Quality Consultant for Enron back in ’98, which was based on an initiative I pioneered while doing Strategic Planning for Anderson in ’96; a thing that I call the “Knowledge Player.”

What is a Knowledge Player? I think of a Knowledge Player (KP) as a Knowledge Worker with an attitude. There is a certain swagger to a KP that is apparent from the start. The KP is competent, even highly skilled, but she’s got something else, call it the “player’s advantage”, that sets her apart from the run-of-the-mill Knowledge Worker. There are four key traits to the Knowledge Player that the folks at Anderson and Enron learned directly from me: the Walk, the Talk, the Skills, and the Attitude.

The “Walk” is how the KP presents himself. Sure, you’ll probably see the KP with a white dress shirt on, but there’s going to be a gold medallion under that shirt. And you won’t find conservative black socks in the KP’s drawer. It’s Argyle or nothing for the KP! Finally, at the summer picnic, the KP may show up fashionably late sporting a pair of Dockers shorts, but you can bet that they’ll be a radical color…. like light blue.

The “Talk” is how the KP interacts with others, both on and off the job. The KP uses language to get work done, but more importantly to show how in tune she is with youth culture and hip new slang. By being able to communicate with everyone, the KP is able to move seamlessly from the boardroom to the mailroom. So if the KP has been informed of a new business idea by listening to the radio, she would let everyone within hearing range know: “Listen up, I just got some downtown science from the cronkite, and think we should dust the dirt off our shoulders and get something done!” This pontification, coupled with a cutting edge striped blouse, shows the KP at her best.

The “Skills” are where the KP and the KW meet. We all know that we’re nowhere without the skills, and the Walk and the Talk mean nothing. The skill levels are the same for the KP as for the KW: Basic, Intermediate and Advanced, but there are slight differences. For example, an advanced Knowledge Worker “anticipates the broader impact”, but the advanced Knowledge Player “broadens the anticipated impact.” Notice the difference?

Of course, the “Attitude” is where it all comes together. The Attitude is the “Walk”, the “Talk” and the “Skills” all wrapped up into one jumbo size chicken burrito. It’s the whole enchilada. When you see a Knowledge Worker walking down the hall, you’ll think to yourself, “Ah, a competent, hard-working member of our team is approaching me.” But when you see a knowledge player coming, you’re thinking “Wow! That guy’s got it going on!”

So this, in its most basic form, is the Knowledge Player initiative that I brought to two of America’s largest corporations in the mid-90’s, Anderson and Enron. They were successful, too! If you don’t believe me, just ask Ken Lay. You may have to wait ten to fifteen years to ask him, though.