Introduction: a map and a lost man
Do you have a moment like this
In the face of a new problem, you think you should understand, but you don't know where to do it; you read a lot of books, you learn a lot of lessons, you have a confused mind, you don't know what you're good at, you don't know what you're doing。
It's like a lost man who has no map and can only turn around。
Knowledge systems, that's the map。
With it, even if you don't have some knowledge yet, you know that they're there, and you can quickly locate them through the index. This is the transformation of “not knowing” into “not knowing”, which is a crucial step for growth. It allows you to remain humble and progressive at all times and to avoid falling into the cycle of death。
So, how do we draw this map
I. Why build knowledge systems
First of all, there's a fundamental question: why are we trying to do this
Some people would say i'm alive and i'm not building any systems
That's right, that's not right。
Without knowledge, you can live. But with a knowledge system, you can live in more direction, more bottom-up and more responsive to this rapidly changing world。
First, the knowledge system helps you identify the blind zone。
There's a concept in psychology called the "dark effect". It tells us that the less capable, the easier to overestimate themselves; the more capable, the easier to see their shortcomings. Why? Because the ignorant don't know what they don't know。
The knowledge system is a mirror. It shows you what you know, what you don't know, where you can find what you don't know. With this mirror, you can avoid the danger of being "not knowing yourself"。
Second, knowledge systems help you build linkages。
Fragmented points of knowledge, like beads scattered on the ground, are useless. The knowledge system is the line that binds the beads into necklaces, into bracelets, into things that can be worn and used。
Isolated knowledge points are easy to forget, linked knowledge is really yours。
Third, knowledge systems help you cope with change。
The business landscape we face is always changing. The problems you encounter today may change tomorrow; the technology you use today may become obsolete next year. If you're just a mechanical memory of a specific knowledge point, you're always chasing change。
Knowledge systems are the “changes of the world” in your hands。
Ii. Model of sand piles: no depth without width
With maps, why can't we just learn the most useful of them
This involves an important model - the sand reactor model。
We compare the core competitiveness of a person to the height of a sand pile, while the breadth of knowledge is compared to the base area of a sand stack。
In the workplace, what really gets you high pay, makes you irreplaceable must be the depth of knowledge. Just as grade eight cutters are better paid than ordinary workers, senior architects are more valuable than junior programmers, as they perform extremely well in a particular subdivision。
However, the size of the pile depends on its base size。
Sooner or later, when you focus on a field where you dig deep, you encounter bottlenecks. You will find it difficult not only to move up, but even to maintain the status quo. At this point, it is often not your effort, but the breadth of your knowledge。
Take an example. You're a technologist who's been working on a programming language. At some stage, you'll find that, in order to go further, you might need to learn mathematics, know business, even a little psychology and management. Because these seemingly irrelevant knowledges actually support the bottom of your sand pile。
If you're holding your own acre three points, your "professional depth" will soon reach the ceiling。
The significance of building a knowledge system lies in the fact that it can help you consciously expand the “widening” of the bottom. When we encounter bottlenecks, we can lay the groundwork for the next higher peak by retrospecting and expanding external knowledge and expanding the base of sand piles。
Depth is the goal and breadth is the basis. Without systematic breadth support, the depth becomes the skyscraper。
Iii. From database to methodology
There was a misunderstanding about the knowledge system, which many people thought would be created by organizing the computer hard drive, with several t-books and ppts。
Actually, it's called a database. Most of the information that lies on your hard drive, six months without looking, is the cost of silence and has no value。
The real architecture of knowledge is a climbing process from data to information to knowledge and wisdom。
Information: just raw material. Online downloads of PDFs, collections, extracts of sentences - raw materials, not processed。
Knowledge: it's you who extracts useful information, combines your understanding and transforms it into my things. This step requires screening, consolidation and reflection。
Experience: you put knowledge into practice to test, develop skills and feelings. You can't swim in books alone, you have to go in the water a few times. Experience is in practice。
Methodological: the abstract, reusable logic that follows a repertoire of lessons learned in practice. It's the highest level of stuff. With methodology, you are no longer “doing by feeling”, but “doing by the rules”。
We construct knowledge systems that are not at the core of information “encumbering”, but rather that are designed to make invisible experiences visible and to logic explicit knowledge。
It can't be directly translated into theory. It's a paper talk. It is only through a collection of practice, error and repetition that those scattered points of experience can be linked, linked, networked, and ultimately developed into a collection of methodological and modelling ideas that belong to you。
When you have this methodology, you are no longer a “skilled worker”, but an expert with independent analytical and problem-solving skills. This is the biggest dividend of knowledge management。
Iv. Knowledge componentization: bottom-up logic to cope with a changing landscape
What is the ultimate significance of building knowledge systems? Addressing uncertainty。
As i wrote in the eight skills of the age of ai: in the age of ai, the only thing that remains is change itself. The skills you have today may be replaced tomorrow; the tools you know today may be outdated tomorrow。
Faced with a world like this, death is useless. You need a set of flexible, assembled knowledge components that you can call at any time。
A truly powerful knowledge system is modular。
Like i used to say about soa in architecture, we should tear our knowledge into a reusable component. Each knowledge component contains three dimensions: conceptual, structural and logical。
You don't have to start learning from scratch when you're facing a new business scene。
You can quickly identify the core features of this scene and then call the relevant "knowledge components" from your knowledge base。
These components are assembled and structured in a flexible manner by logic, and solutions to current problems are quickly constructed。
It's like building blocks. The more blocks you have, the more you understand the interface, the more complex, the more ambitious you can build。
This is what we are looking for: the rapid assembly of knowledge through the construction of solid knowledge components at the bottom, with constant logic to respond to changing scenarios。
V. How to proceed
What exactly should we do with all this
Step 1: identify your core areas。
You don't have to learn anything. First of all, select an area of your greatest interest and your greatest advantage as your core. This is the top point of your sand pile, the middle axis of your knowledge system。
Step 2: combine your knowledge map。
Make a picture of what you already know. Which are the core concepts, which are the underpinnings of knowledge and which are the marginal. Painting, you'll find out where your blind zone is, what you need。
Step 3: conscious outreach。
When you reach a certain stage in your core field, when you encounter bottlenecks, do not die. Look at the “outside” of knowledge — business, management, psychology, history — and you'll find a lot of bottlenecks, actually, are the problem of vision。
Step 4: practice, repetition, refining methodology。
The knowledge learned must be tested in practice. Success, summing up why; failure, failure. Each experience is refined into a reusable methodology。
Step 5: componentize your knowledge。
Dismantling out the method of extraction into a small knowledge component. Each component has a clear boundary, a clear purpose, and a plugged interface. So you can call them at any time, deal with new scenes。
Step 6: regular clean-up and upgrading。
Knowledge systems are not static. Some knowledge will be obsolete, some will need to be updated and some will need to be phased out. Check your knowledge collection regularly, throw it, upgrade it。
Vi. Conclusion: knowledge systems are a long run
Building knowledge systems is not a matter of overnight。
It is a long run that requires patience, perseverance and continuous commitment. You'll have bottlenecks, you'll be confused, and you'll wonder if it's going to work。
But believe me, every step counts。
All the books you've read, the questions you've thought about, the experiences you've done, the lessons you've learned, will sink down and become part of your knowledge system. They connect, support each other, and eventually form a solid and viable network。
When your knowledge system is strong enough, you will find that the world is no longer new and full of uncertainty. You've got maps, you've got navigation, you've got the bottom of change。
You know what you know, you know what you don't know, you know where to find what you don't know。
This is the best gift that knowledge systems give to an adult。
May you have this map。
