H-SIG useful quotes for KM workers
18-Feb-04
Useful quotes for KM workers
Jacques SOUILLOT
souillot.jacques@wanadoo.fr
Our abilities to relax and to let our imaginations hover above the nitty-gritty of our permanent rushing and buzzing might have to be supported. To this aim it could be a start to have a look at some famous (and not so famous) quotes and see if that exercise could not vivify our brains and thinking. Let's have a try!
It would also be nice to share with all the readers the quotes you think can be of some benefit (on various grounds) to the KM people. Remember to keep close to the themes of the the H-SIG,
For those who want to underline a particular aspect of their reflexion related to a quote (several quotes): do not hesitate to develop what you have to tell the reader!
Here is the beginning of a list of quotes, which could quickly grow, could it not?
(Short quotes have been favoured here, but longer ones are welcome...)
Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.
CONFUCIUS
Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.
AESOP
For the more we get out of the world the less we leave, and in the long run we shall have to pay our debts at a time that may be very inconvenient for our survival.
Norbert A. WIENER
An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field.
Niels BOHR
A known mistake is better than an unknown truth.
Arabic proverb
Knowledge without a moral foundation is meaningless.
Leo TOLSTOY
Grub first, then ethics.
Bertolt BRECHT
Thanks for adding more.
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- Jacques SOUILLOT
- Publisher:
- KnowledgeBoard
- Date:
- 18-Feb-04
- Categories:
- Human and Social, Human Side of KM
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"The important thing is not to stop questioning." - A. Einstein
As a researcher and consultant this is one of my favourite quotes regarding knowledge work.
There ist much more to be found @ http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Knowledge
Regards -REIMAR
The darker side of light
The difficulties we meet in everyday life and at work are not to be ignored. Somehow it is important to be able to assess the influence and the consequences of those difficulties, on the activities we are trying to carry out, so as to reach our objectives.
However we must first make sure that what we see as difficulties are “difficulties”. Depending on our respective cultures something occurring here might appear as a difficulty, whereas when occurring there it is negligeable or can even be seen as an opportunity.
And... it's not just linked to mere geographical conditions...
We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.PLATO (427 - 347 BC)
Let's think about it...
As long as 2,500 years ago we were told to be very careful not to mistake the container for its content, not to value technology more than what it enables us to do. But the following quote probably carries a few more meanings...
We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want.LAO TSU's Tao Te Ching
Peter Drucker and The Leader to Leader Foundation
Peter Drucker dies two days ago at age 94. I thought we should honour him by posting something he wrote:
"The 21st century will be the century of the social sector organization.The more economy, money, and information become global, the more community will matter. And only the social sector nonprofit organization performs in the community, exploits its opportunities, mobilizes its local resources, solves its problems. The leadership, competence, and management of the social sector nonprofit organization will thus largely determine the values, the vision, the cohesion, and the performance of the 21st century society."
The Leader to Leader Foundation (formerly Peter Druker's Foundation):
The Leader to Leader Institute believes that a healthy society requires three vital sectors: a public sector of effective governments; a private sector of effective businesses; and a social sector of effective community organizations. The mission of the social sector is changing lives. It accomplishes this mission by addressing the needs of the spirit, the mind, and the body -- of individuals, the community, and society. The social sector also provides a significant sphere for individuals and corporations to practice effective and responsible citizenship.
That's something else!
Some say there is more to life than business, knowledge, or even wisdom. Could that be poetry?
The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears.Native American Proverb (Minquass)
And then there seems to be more to poetry than just words...
Cleverness and wisdom
The quote presented by Mark Outhwaite, 30 August 2005, finds an echo in the following:
You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.Naguib MAHFOUZ (born in 1911)
The Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature of 1988, Naguib Mahfouz was born in Egypt (Cairo) in 1911. He started writing at an early age and his first novel was published in 1939. Many of his novels have been made into films, which are quite popular in the Arabic-speaking world.
Education: no KM without it!
These days everything keeps changing endlessly. That's what we feel. But was it not the same centuries ago? And then there are "things" which seem to be permanent, they look universal: justice, love, solidarity, education...
To train and educate the rising generation will at all times be the first object of society, to which every other will be subordinate. (The Social System, 1826)Robert OWEN (1771 - 1858)
A successful British entrepreneur at the rise of the Industrial Revolution, Robert Owen certainly was one of the most rational utopists we can think of. To a certain extent his views on social, moral, economical and environmental issues constitute the basis of today's sustainable development approach.
More about Robert Owen and schooling: http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-owen.htm
Giants will be giants
Since autumn has just started (that is in the northern hemisphere) harvesting and picking up fruits are high priorities on the agricultural agendas.
Great trees give more shade than fruit.German proverb
It could also be added that grass grows poorly under big trees. There must be a saying which expresses the idea, but surely somebody knows of one in a language or another. Thanks for your help!
Common sense is something that should be valued
A quote which is echoing the one by Peter Drucker (August 30th in this thread):
Efficiency is doing more things faster. Effectiveness is doing the right things.Stephen COVEY (born in 1932)
Covey got famous internationally with his very successful book entitled The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (1989). He still is one of the most influential management gurus in the USA.
What if people don't care?
Sharing knowledge is not something totally automatic, and fundamentally instinctive, except perhaps at the family level...
In order to reinforce the feeling that sharing is an absolute necessity, it has to be backed up by a number of concurrent values: generosity, altruism, respect, trustworthiness, solidarity...
What we must treasure most, it is knowing we can count on others.
Le véritable trésor, c'est de pouvoir compter sur les autres.Massa Makan DIABATE (1938 - 1988)
Massa Makan Diabaté (from Bamako, Mali) was to be a griot according to his family tradition. Instead he studied history. He soon became a writer.
To a certain extent it could be said that his literary work was the transcription of that orality he respected so much, but that he could not master as well as the written expression.
another thought from the mountain top
True wisdom is the art of the question not the science of the answer. anon
Has this been heard clearly?
Here is a dictum which ought to be the motto of quite a number of people (maybe everybody in fact), including, especially, those who are in charge of the most important responsibilities:
Doing things right is not as important as doing the right things.Peter DRUCKER (born in 1909)
Peter F. Drucker was born in Vienna, studied in Austria, worked in London, and really became an international guru in the seventies, teaching Social Science and Management at Claremont, California. He published his first book in 1939: The End of Economic Man, and in 2002 his latest production was entitled: Managing in the Next Society.
The two sides of a one coin
What about reaching our goals in our various activities by taking into account the many (even if it is just two!) influences that they are submitted to? And that means why keep on trying to use the "straight" line when the most efficient one is not the one which looks the most direct? (Remember: space is a dimension where the easiest path is a curve.)
Faith and doubt both are needed, not as antagonists, but working side by side to take us around the unknown curve.Lillian SMITH (1887 - 1966)
A widely acclaimed writer, a Southerner, who fought against social injustice and racial segregation.
Diversity and credibility
What could make the preceding quote’s teaching more acceptable for the skeptic? Perhaps simply the admittance of our strong demand for rigor, discipline and honesty in anything we invest our efforts. Indeed “diversity” cannot mean total chaos!
Of course we can only accept what is susceptible to be proven or at least explained rationally. What we are not prepared to accept we should try to understand; nevertheless we ought to try to protect our intellect from excesses of “unhealthy” thoughts. But then what is “unhealthy”?
The thing that most exasperates you is to find yourself at the mercy of the fortuitous, the aleatory, the random, in things
and in human actions - carelessness, approximation, imprecision, whether your own or others.Italo CALVINO (1923 – 1985)
Calvino is in fact telling us that one way or the other all those phenomena are part of our human condition. So let’s acknowledge we are “human” humans.
Do not hesitate to discover more about Italo Calvino: http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/cal.html
Let's not reduce our focus!
With today's means of communication and what is called "globalization", ideas go round the world almost instantaneously. That should imply the expression of a great diversity of opinions, thoughts, ways of apprehending things. Of course other people's words have to be given some room and opportunity to be heard.
A sense of "equity" would seem to be required, some tolerance as well, even some respect. In fact respect should be rule number one, with the extra requirements of listening to and taking into account what is said.
We must openly accept all ideologies and systems as means of solving humanity's problems. One country, one nation, one ideology, one system is not sufficient.Dalai Lama
Diversity enables stability through dynamic processes of flows and exchanges, in a holistic perspective; uniformity causes instability by creating tensions and counter-tensions, which might in some cases lead to chaos, especially when the vision of the bigger picture has become confused or has been lost.
...and a few more!
Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
"Business is a conversation because the defining work of business is conversation - literally. And 'knowledge workers' are simply those people whose job consists of having interesting conversations." David Weinberger, The Cluetrain Manifesto
"Learning is not compulsory but neither is survival." - W. Edwards Deming
Knowledge is power, but enthusiasm pulls the switch.
"I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn." - Albert Einstein
"Everything that happens to you is your teacher. The secret is to learn to sit at the feet of your own life and be taught by It." - Polly B. Berends
"Only those who have learned a lot are in a position to admit how little they know." - L. Carte
"Learning how to learn is life's most important skill." - Tony Buzan
"If you're not learning while you're earning, you're cheating yourself of the better portion of your just compensation." - Napoleon Hill
"Try to learn something about everything and everything about something." - Thomas H. Huxley
"Nothing can be effectively controlled, in the long run, from the top of a hierarchy-- or from any one perspective. People are basically trustworthy. Only workplaces that give their members the chance to learn and add value through their work will succeed in the long run." - Art Kleiner
"It is best to learn as we go, not go as we have learned." - Leslie Jeanne Sahler
"It's a cross functional world - removing/trashing/obliterating any and all barriers to cross-functional communication is nothing short of our single highest priority. However sophisticated the technology, however grand the vision of integrated solutions and great customer experiences the business is doomed without real human communication" - Tom Peters
http://www.knowledgeableltd.com
Some quotes from the "Learning to Fly" community...
Hi Jaques,
I asked a similar question in another communtiy - here are the "pick of the bunch":
"Whoever loves being corrected loves knowledge, but he who hates being corrected is stupid." (Proverbs 12.1)
"Value is in the knowledge flow, not in the knowledge store" - E Sandwick
"I wish we knew what we know at HP" - Lew Platt, Hewlett-Packard
"Sharing knowledge is not about giving people something, or getting something from them. That is only valid for information sharing. Sharing knowledge occurs when people are genuinely interested in helping one another develop new capacities for action; it is about creating learning processes." - Peter M. Senge The Fifth Discipline
"Knowledge is not power; it's potential power. Knowledge is only powerful through action."
Spanish proverb "Well stolen is half-done"
In a knowledge-driven economy, talk is real work.- Thomas Davenport and Laurence Prusak
It isn't what you know that counts; it's what you think of in time. - Benjamin Franklin
If a little knowledge is dangerous, where is a man who has so much as to be out of danger? -Thomas Henry Huxley
Cheers,
Chris
http://www.knowledgeableltd.com
Another maxim
Criticism should awaken our attention, not inflame our anger. We should listen to, and not flee from, those who contradict us. Truth should be our cause, no matter in what manner it comes to us.Marquise de Sablé (1599 - 1678)
Not that the word "truth" has such a clear meaning today. It might be replaced in this context by "rational knowledge", as opposed to blind ignorance, superstition, deceit, hardly consistent concepts or irrational beliefs.
My apologies to Madame la Marquise de Sablé if her thoughts are distorted by the above comments.
What would he say now?
"The discovery of the alphabet will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves...You give your disciples not truth but only the semblance of truth; they will be heroes of many things, and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing."
- Socrates, "Phaedrus"
How true!! I used to be an excellent spelling-bee until someone invented spell-checker! And now I can copy and paste and save and duplicate and send SOS to the world requesting help, I find more and more my knowledge is no longer 'store' in my brain but somewhere out there in cyberspace!
So Mr. Socrates, YES, I am quilty of ... "appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing"!
Cindy
Remember Sitting Bull, Lone Man, Chief Seattle...
At least it can remind us that people of good will often share common visions. It is better still when they live together in peace and harmony, sharing and cooperating for the benefit of everybody.
The earth which sustains humanity must not be injured. It must not be destroyed!
Hildegarde of BINGEN (1098 - 1178)
It has to be underlined Hildergarde of Bingen (Germany) was an extraordinary woman: a musician and composer, theologist, "scientist" and polymath visionary, you name it!
AIFIDREK
What is today's workers' main mission?
If it is too complicated to explain, then why not try this plain statement:
Apply intelligence to filter information and deliver relevant knowledge.
H-SIG
Meaning = shared understanding, beliefs, values
Hello Benoit,
Good to see that you manage to apprehend so many of the multiple expressions of man's desire to progress and help his society progress too.
Since you might appreciate reading a text in French about Norbert Alter's ideas on "innovation" , I invite you to visit the following URL:
http://www.cnam.fr/lipsor/dso/articles/fiche/alter.html
It is a review of "L'innovation ordinaire", by Norbert Alter (2000).
At one point the reviewer (B. Lebeaupin) underlines that, to Norbert Alter, innovation requires a collective appropriation of its nature and design.
L'élaboration collective de l'innovation. L'invention n'est au départ qu'une idée. Elle ne se transforme en innovation que si des acteurs parviennent à lui donner un sens.
Which could translate, more or less, as:
Innovation as a collective production. The birth of an invention is but an idea. That invention will transform into innovation if and only if a number of actors manage to make sense of it.
The glow of meaning
Salut Jaques and Cindy, I thank you for this thread of reflexion. I see the nature and the definition of innovation with the image of what breathing is about, in all of its application to life, health and hapiness. Teach your child the awareness of breathing well under all circumstances, and he or she shall always be know the freedom of mindand with the physical balance to adapt to the moment with the creativity as needed by the instance. What else can we expect from the word innovation, but a better and better way to relate and to be relevant here and now, in the authenticity of transparency?!... When viewed with this image of breathing, innovation is the art of flowing with the lead, neither ahead nor behind but with it, so that an innovator is a following-leader-leader-follower. But put the word in the restrictive framework of business and indeed, as with everything else that busuness does, it will take evrything, turn it into nothing and the perpetuate the innovation until another one comes to swallow everything into nothing. No meaning can resist the swallowing powers that the beast is made of. The thought of watching globalization being innovated by leaving its sterring wheels in the hands of the market place is frightenning. The one comforting thought I get from this thread is that I cabn respectfully ask Mr. Sergio Zyman to get away from promoting and supplying self-destruction. The view of true innovation receives a tremendous boost of clarity when we get away from giving the eqivalent of 60 tea spoons worth os sugar in 10 ounces of product at the time. I can hear you say: " those are the market forces. Demand and supply." And I say to this royal decree over the world of business to accept the French counter acting force to demand and supply. In French we say: "The offer and the provision". We dont demnad and cu=ause a supply, we artistacally produce what our gifts allow us to produce, we offer them and we provide them if you need them and accept the price. No command and control attitude and ongoing escape that the laws of the market place decide. Before the market place can ever talk of innovation in its true sense, it will have to invest massively at healing the meaning of life, health and hapiness. Let's start by turning the look of coca-cola into a clear substance poiting to clarity of mind instead of the hype of ignorance...
What's that?
Obviously lots of people today will disagree with this statement by Mr. Zyman (Chairman of the Zyman Group, former Marketing Chief Officer of the Coca-Cola Company):
In my view, innovation is just another word for "giving up". It's saying things are so bad that it's easier to get into an entirely different business than to deal with our problems. And this whole "innovation culture" is just the latest in a long line of business fads.Sergio ZYMAN
As a matter of fact it does not sound quite right. On the other hand it might well contain some truth. But it would certainly be better to try and understand the author's point of view and read his text at the following Url: http://www.zyman.com/rbyi/bs.rbyi.pdf
Business and SD
Sustainable development is not just a mantra used to reassure people. At least it should not be. Some business people do believe it is part of their duty towards society to reach better conditions of work, to waste less energy, less raw material, and so on.
They have systematized their approach to sustainable development, for example through "ECM".
Environmentally conscious manufacturing (ECM) is a new way of thinking about manufacturing which focuses on the most efficient and productive use of raw materials and natural resources, and minimizes the adverse impacts on workers and the natural environment.
www.bsdglobal.com is the Business and Sustainable Development site of the International Institute of Sustainable Development, a site clearly aimed at business people.
Humans first...?
We are all convinced today that our economies must aim at more sustainability. We associate the word "sustainability" with "growth" or "development". But are economical processes working just for the sake of the economy? Sustainability is not just a question of economy: what about the sustainability of our communities, societies, cultures?
The ultimate aim of production is not production of goods but the production of free human beings associated with one another on terms of equality.John DEWEY (1859 - 1952)
Famous American philosopher and educator.
Rome was not built in a day...
Hardly anything is done without any difficulty, especially when a kind of perfection is aimed at. With high skills and a lot of patience one can give the impression of working with great ease, but all that has been acquired through intensive training, sometimes for years.
No surprise then to see that in this period of our history which is overflowing with changes and innovation, some competencies can be missing or shallow. New forms of organisation are difficult to implement, new ways of managing still have to progress. It might require some more time before more adaptive forms of dealing with reality develop to satisfactory levels of efficiency.
There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new system.Niccolo MACCHIAVELLI (1469 - 1527)
Italian statesman and thinker, he wrote Il Principe ("The Prince"), his best-known work, in 1513. In 1520 he produced L'Arte della guerra ("The Art of War").
Who has ever heard of her?
Much of what you say, Cindy, or even everything you say, must be true. There's bound to be millions (billions?) of people ready to agree with you!
The art of being a woman can never consist of being a bad imitation of a man.
Olga KNOPF
Not much can be found about Olga Knopf. Not a single biography concerning her on the Net! Is it a kind of punishment meant for that 20th century psychiatrist?
In anycase she wrote The Art of Being a Woman! (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1932)
Why?
Hello Jacques,
As a woman I always wonder about these:
Why do women have to compete with men, to outdo men ?
What is so special to be a man and women want to be just like a man?
Why do women use the yardstick that meansure men to measure themselves against men?
Why cannot women have the CONFIDENT to be just a HUMAN BEING?
Competition and winning are both illusions that one can hold on for only 'that' long. Soon, someone will come along and the glory is gone.
I never think of myself as a woman that have the needs to be better than a man. I always see myself as a human being that is looking for a PERSON (or many) who share my visions. Man or woman.
There is a place for everyone. Man or woman. Nothing distress me more than to see a woman being promoted to some position because she is a woman and she is there to fill the quota.
Nothing distress me more than to see a woman being placed on a position that she is incapable to do and fail.
Nothing distress me more is to see married woman with children focus their efforts in building their career ONLY. A woman that worth my admiration would not be that selfish to bring children to this world and deprived them of their needs.
And something distresses me EVEN more is to see a woman grabbing a position and is incapable to produce quality results.
If GOD wants women to be the same as men, GOD would have created only one sex.
Cindy
More than a humorous remark, no doubt!
Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.
Charlotte WHITTON (1896 - 1975)
A social worker, politician, feminist, she became Canada's first female mayor in 1951 (Ottawa). Though extremely famous she has remained a very controversial character. Let us guess which majority of the population was/is not too fond of her!
Time management
Difficult not to mention again and again a few of the greatest thinkers of all times.
Desire to have things done quickly prevents their being done thoroughly.
CONFUCIUS
Craving for efficiency must not lead to hasty decision and botchered action.
Worldwide wisdom?
Did Marco Polo hear the following, he who could have said: Chi va forte, va alla morte!
One moment of patience may ward off a great disaster; one moment of impatience may ruin a whole life.
Chinese proverb
Marco Polo (1254-1324), is the famous Venitian traveller who reached China (then "Cathay"), spent 24 years there, as a friend and confident of Kublai Khan, the Emperor. Today Venice airport is called "Marco Polo Airport".
Same sort of tune (in French)
A statement which might remind you of "Waste not, want not":
Celui qui ne le perd pas possède beaucoup de temps.
You will have plenty of time if you don't waste it.
Bernard LE BOUYER de FONTENELLE (1657 - 1757)
Fontenelle: a French philosopher, nephew of Corneille (the playwright), interested in sciences. He had a great talent at bringing people to ponder upon the developments of science.
Another recommendation of the same type
The "precautionary principle" is an altogether accepted fact in Europe. Indeed it is part of the European culture. So many things happened here in the past which could or might have been avoided, or at least which we could have tried to readjust smoothly, had that principle been adopted earlier! We have learnt the hard way...
So it is not surprising we have developed a strong tendency to prevent precipitation from leading us run amok, particularly when it is bound to affect others, our relation to others, our survival and their survival!
In a knowledge economy, that is an economy driven by a knowledge society, the same could apply to the running of industries, businesses. Precipitation cannot allow for a wide and deep scope of analysis, but it can open the way to violent actions and violent reactions. There is little chance it will allow for the integration of long term objectives.
On the contrary we might suspect precipitation will promote short term objectives, revealing the shallowness of epidermic reactions and the opacity of short sighted views, with potentially tragic, even lethal, consequences. Let us not forget a few of the core preoccupations of our human societies: survival for all, respect for everyone, protection of our environment, decent working conditions for everybody. Any business decision violating those ethical fundamentals must have been taken with too much haste! And the following piece of wisdom must have been "neglected":
Chi va piano, va sano e va lontano
One who goes slowly goes safely and farItalian proverb
Karl Klaus, and Molière, see previous quotes, were saying something quite similar!
A "sustainable growth" principle:
It is generally acknowledged that speed is the main cause of car accidents. The fact is that speed is a very disruptive factor as regards our perception of our environment, leading us to take decisions that might have severe consequences.
Le trop de promptitude à l'erreur nous expose.
Too great haste leads us to error.
MOLIERE (1622 - 1673), Sganarelle (I, 12)
Molière (his real name was Jean Baptiste Poquelin) is one of the most popular playwrights among the greatest: his comedies are still regularly performed all over the world. His focus on hypocrisy and vice reveals a deep understanding of people's weaknesses. It certainly makes us laugh, but does it not also lead us to more compassion towards our fellowmen? They have fallen into a number of recurrent traps? Let us learn to be wiser... than we thought we were!
Drying up?
Since this world is constantly speeding up we should take care of not losing our compass. Is one still able to realise which direction one has taken and how far it is one wants to go? One might well have changed directions without being aware of it, or one might have gone past one's objectives without noticing...
What good is speed if the brain has oozed out on the way?
Karl KRAUS (1874 - 1936)
The famous pre "Anschluss" journalist and satirist worked in Vienna (Austria), and was the author of "Die letzten Tage der Menschheit" (The Last Days of Mankind). Not always particularly optimistic as one might understand, and with some reasons...
A painter, and a great humanist
El sueno de la razon produce monstruos
The sleep of reason produces monsters.
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746 - 1828)
The author of this quote should be GOYA himself, since the sentence appears in an etching and aquatint of his, Plate 43 of The Caprices/Fantasies (Los Caprichos). He got into trouble with the Spanish Inquisition: the prints were withdrawn only a few days after their going on sale.
Peccato!
Is the following proverb an anti KM statement?
He who knows little knows enough if he knows how to hold is tongue.
Italian proverb
KM is about sharing, that is giving and receiving, and capitalizing, so the general conclusion is quite obvious!However, at times, the information required has a tremendous importance and its quality, veracity, authenticity cannot be dealt with any kind of outrageous amateurism, could-not-care-less attitude, hidden unreasonable agenda.
Let us include some serious risk management principles in our KM! And beware of chatter-boxes!
KM and democracy
If KM is part of the tools of good governance, then it is directly linked with democracy, isn't it?
Democracy is a charming form of governement, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike.
PLATO
Freedom and disagreement
It can be quite bewildering to see how virtue and knowledge must converge or else be condemned to anihilation. There are still people trying to warn us to be extremely careful as regards that issue. Let us allow room for debating, and remain cautious in response to every too forceful pressures towards unity or unification.
For real democracy to thrive, people must agree to disagree, but we must also be prepared to advance arguments and facts to back up our views.
Raffique SHAH
Prominent Caribbean journalist - also head of the Trinidad Islandwide Cane Farmers Association (TICFA)
Let's quote Gandhi again!
There are chances you agree with that one, aren't there? Unless...
Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.
Mahatma GANDHI
Another Disraeli's thought
Some two centuries after La Rochefoucauld's statement (see the previous quote), another clever mind tells us to be careful with our tendencies to smoothen things to a relative level of meaninglessness and shut up all perspectives which we might not feel comfortable with.
My idea of an agreable person is a person who agrees with me.
Benjamin DISRAELI (1804 - 1881)
A very creative man in a variety of domains: politics, geo-strategy, governance, litterature, dandyism... A bit disruptive, as regards some of his contemporaries!!!
How true!
The truth of this "maxime" can be quite disturbing, can it not?
We seldom find any person of good sense, except those who share our opinions.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613 -1680)
French author and moralist, famous for his "Mémoires" and "Maximes".
Simplicity and perfection
"The best explanation is as simple as possible...but no simpler" Einstein
"Perfection is attained not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." St. Exupery
The egg or the hen? Which was first?
What if the following statement is right? Yes, to a certain extent it might not sound politically correct, especially if one is checking for correctness in a kind of manic attitude... But if one is to look deeper than the surface? Could it not then be boldly developed into something like "Where there is no vision, there is no meaning."
Where the speech is corrupted, the mind is also.
Lucius Annaeus SENECA (3 BC - 65 AD)
Roman tragedian, philosopher, and politician
Calm down!
The words of some people who have had some real, broad, deep (and sometimes crual) experience of life can merit some more attention than what is usually granted to ordinary so-called "famous" stars, gurus, reality show opportunists, mass-media manipulators. So the following quote should be pondered upon with some respect:
The purely agitational attitude is not good enough for a detailed consideration of a subject.
Jawaharlal NEHRU (1889 - 1964)
Fought for India's independence, was jailed a few times (seven times!!!), became India's Prime Minister from 1947 to 1964.
-Stop arguing! -Of course not!
A French philosopher very few French people know of (he never wrote a book!) said:
The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert (1754 - 1824)
How true he was/is! Lots of people utter such clever and useful remarks everyday though. The thing is those who hear them do not really notice, and then again since it might not have been the production of a famous person nobody will think of spreading the good word!
Obvious?
This quote does not call for that many precautions to be presented:
There are 40 kinds of lunacy, but only one kind of common sense.
African Proverb
And Asimov was not from Haiti!
Obviously the last Haitian proverb mentioned in this thread finds some echo in the following sentence:
If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.
Isaac ASIMOV (1920 - 1992)
THE famous science-fiction writer!
Ignorance cannot teach you much...
Ignorance doesn't kill you, but it makes you sweat a lot.
Haitian proverb
T'is quite true! but knowledge also demands a lot of sweating in the first place. However it is better to invest in knowledge than ignorance, isn't it?
But wise men perceive approaching things ...
Men know what is happening now.
The gods know the things of the future,
the full and sole possessors of all lights.
Of the future things, wise men perceive
approaching things. Their hearing
is sometimes, during serious studies,
disturbed. The mystical clamor
of approaching events reaches them.
And they heed it with reverence. While outside
on the street, the peoples hear nothing at all.
Constantine P. Cavafy (1915)
Grass-hopper
However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act upon them?
The Buddha
TRUST: appears in the title of over 20 articles on KB!
The well-known political analyst of John Hopkins University, Professor Francis Fukuyama, wrote a book about a subject which is always quite popular at KB: "trust"! (Trust: the social virtues and the creation of prosperity, Free Press, New York,1997). To him:
[Trust is the] expectation that arises within a community of regular, honest and co-operative behavior, based on commonly shared norms, on the part of other members of the community…Francis FUKUYAMA (1952 - )
We are thus told that "trust" is not a given, and that so as to flourish it requires an environment of proven honesty and high ethical standards. Probably not a very original way of seeing things, but one to be reminded of from time to time...
Sun-Zi
"KNOW YOURSELF AND KNOW THE OTHER SIDE, THEN YOU WILL WIN EVERY TIME."
Sun-Zi
Famous Chinese military strategist,
from Ping-Fa the "Act of War"
Social capital in a highly complex world
It is a remarkable fact that the sharing of values is essential to the cohesion of social groups. The OECD makes it quite clear in its definition of "social capital":
[Social capital is] a combination of networks together with shared norms, values and understandings that facilitate co-operation within or among groups.
The Well-being of Nations: The Role of Human and Social Capital
Tom Healy and Sylvain Côté
OECD, Paris, 2001
As a consequence some social groups might have difficulties making friends with other social groups... Sustainable relationships between groups: that calls for tolerance, respect and reflecting on one's system of ethics...
Let’s innovate, in a sustainable way…
This 21st century of ours has already seen quite a few changes. We see some everyday in fact. But let us remember that change cannot be an aim in itself: one cannot promote change just for the sake of change (unless one works in the “fashion” business, of course!).
To change and to improve are two different things.German proverb
And then, perhaps, we would have to check our criteria to assess what “to improve” really means…
Transparency
Let us suppose you are a very trustful person: you always expect people to be sincere, truthful and respectful. What if those people you trust, sometimes rather naively, are not a hundred per cent honest?
A half truth is a whole lie.Yiddish proverb
Sustainable growth has had a long tradition…
Obviously we are living a time of high speed (of permanent acceleration in some respects), quick reactivity and instantaneous decision. It would be marvellous if today’s decisions could take into account the longer term, particularly the future of our children, the stability of our societies; the balance of our environment.
Let’s hope we do not forget to be as wise as our ancestors.
One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade.Chinese proverb
Better to talk of the "human race" than of…
Still another way of telling us to work, live and have fun together. Yes there is something like the human race!
We were born to unite with our fellow men, and to join in community with the human race.
Marcus Tullius CICERO (106 BC - 43 BC)
Another wording…
It is amazing how many ways there are to express an idea. The diversity of styles and references brings us all the facets of the underlying concepts and enriches the whole picture. So here is another quote about “cooperation”, or whatever concepts emerging from the sentence that follows (according to one’s world view):
We don't accomplish anything in this world alone ... and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something.Sandra DAY O’CONNOR (1930 - )
Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female member of the United States Supreme Court, its 102nd justice, in 1981.
From the Super Bowl Trophy to...
It will not be repeated often enough:
Individual commitment to a group effort -- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.
Vince LOMBARDI (1913 - 1970)
A man of many skills, born in Brooklyn (New York): graduated in business, worked at a finance company, taught various disciplines (algebra, physics, even Latin…) at a secondary school in New Jersey, a good football player, and better still one of the best football coaches ever. Had a phenomenal gift for motivating his players.
KM & Gardening
Hi Jacques,
I really like that quote - simple, elegant and applicable to all parts of life.
Helen
Back to the grassroots!
No need to use sophisticated technical vocabularies in order to “sound” more convincing. It is better to “be” convincing by remaining simple and concise and concrete; or so this saying appears to demonstrate:
Knowledge is like a garden: if it is not cultivated, it cannot be harvested.
Guinean saying
Naturally one must not be prevented from using technical terms when necessary. Let us admit that our world is getting rather complex or even sometimes hardly understandable. Also one can be bewildered especially at times when word meanings tend to shift slightly or dramatically away from their origin (but this occurs in a formidable manner in the political arena mainly!).
Organizations and their survival
It is always a wonder to discover a new author, a new thinker, a new humanist, so I enjoyed coming across this academic’s thought:
“An organization that continually sees itself in novel images, images that are permeated with diverse skills and sensitivities, […] is equipped to deal with altered surroundings when they appear."
Karl WEICK (Professor of organizational behavior and psychology, University of Michigan)
Through his conceptualisation of complexity and his modelization of organizations as biological systems Karl WEICK is a leader in the rethinking of organization management and … knowledge management…
One of his very explicit titles: Making Sense of the Organization (Blackwell Pub, 2000)
A challenge from CI
CI: Collective Intelligence. For some years this concept has developed dramatically. It is now becoming a central notion within KM itself. It has been used to forage many a field, uncover new veins, reassess a number of perspectives…
Whatever the efforts to improve and optimize the flow of information, the intrinsic limit of hierarchized structures will always show up, with its pawl [appalling?] effects, its dynamics made of territories and prerogatives…The Transitioner (Jean-François Noubel, editor)
For more of this text click here: http://www.thetransitioner.org/wiki/tiki-index.php?page=Pyramidal+intelligence
http://www.thetransitioner.org
The Transitioner.org: a wiki with an aim to bring together creative individuals interested in building a fair world. The idea here is to check how collective intelligence and the economy can be developed harmoniously.
Let us hope it is not an absolute rule!
If what F.A. von Hayek says were unavoidable then it would be sad for the future of mankind! But maybe what Hayek means is for us to be careful not to fall victims of that horrific pattern he points at?
...the ultimate decision about what is accepted as right and wrong will be made not by individual human wisdom but by the disappearance of the groups that have adhered to the "wrong" beliefs.Friedrich August von HAYEK (1889 - 1992)
Among the most masterful and insightful of 20th Century economists, this Austrian controversial theoricist was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1974.
Sharing and support
From Ancient Romans to Northern Native Americans everybody (see the previous Persian proverb) seems to agree:
... I have seen that in any great undertaking it is not enough for a man to depend simply upon himself.
LONE MAN (late 19th century)
Lone Man, better known as Isna-la-wica in his native language, was a Teton Sioux. Teton: (contraction of Titonwan, 'dwellers on the prairie'): the western and principal division of the Dakota or Sioux, including all the bands formerly ranging west of Missouri river, and now residing on reservations in South Dakota and North Dakota.
Sharing and co-operating
It seems to be common sense all over the world and all through history:
It is nothing for one to know something unless another knows you know it.
Persian proverb
And this proverb could prove to be a strong encouragement to envision the Lisbon objectives of a European Knowledge Society with some more confidence. For some it will even evoke related fundamental notions, such as "collective intelligence" for example.
Human diversity
I found this on the net, but despite some effort I cannot find the source - the quote appears in many places on the net, so it must strike a cord....
We could learn a lot from crayons:
some are sharp, some are pretty,
some are dull, some have weird names,
and all are different colours....but
they all exist very nicely in the same box.
More change, more of the same?
These days, as "scientism" is questioned, what about the following?
The man was a great basketball player and an extraordinary coach... and he wrote a few wise books, about basketball, of course, but also about life. He certainly had a few wise things to say.