Have you noticed that taking a decision to do something seems to take much of the stress out of a situation?

We've been unhappy in our current (rented) flat for a while now, and what with the relentless rise in house prices it was getting a bit depressing - like we would never escape. Now that house prices are finally heading downward in Guildford we've decided to rent for another year, but we're still going to move!

Despite the fact that nothing about our environment has changed it suddenly seems much better. It is now no longer the unsatisfactory environment that annoys us, but the environment we'll be leaving behind shortly. I know that a different perspective can afford a different view, but this has reminded me how powerful that difference can be.

This brought to mind Nikolai Erdman's play "The Suicide" that I was involved in the lighting for at college. The basic plot is that a man in a Russian tenement block decides to commit suicide because he feels his life is pointless. However as news of his decision spreads an increasing cast of characters try to persuade him to commit suicide for their pet causes. Suffice to say that the agony of choice provides meaning again and he disappoints all but his wife when he decides not to go through with his plan.

Listening to the radio last night (I'm already a Radio 4 fan) I got a great new concept. I enjoy 'The material world' (R4 Thursdays 4:30-5pm) and they were doing a programme on the mind and a specific section on personality tests.

One of the psychologists there spoke of the idea that we all have an internal clock (something like a computer does). The clock is unrelated to intelligence or the speed at which you can process information. However, the rate at which the clock ticks appears to vary between introverted and extroverted people. The idea is that introverted people have a high clock speed and thus have a high background level of interest as it were. Extroverts on the other hand have a slow clock speed, and feel the need for additional stimulation.

To highlight this, they attempted to glean from the audience two groups that represented the two extremes of this spectrum. For the introverted group they asked for people who preferred jobs where they could plan, enjoyed reading, etc. To ascertain who might be at the other end of the scale they used a different approach. First they picked people wearing red clothes. Then they asked for people who were members of extreme sports societies. As if planned the guy wearing a red shirt was an extreme sports enthusiast! The moral of the story? People who indulge in extreme sports probably want a red shirt for Christmas. Oh, and we like to concept of the clock speed…

Dave went to one of David Gurteen's Knowledge Café's last night. It was my first, and a goal of mine.

Basically I find it difficult to generate ideas and concepts when left to myself, but when placed in a stimulating environment, I'll get involved and generate lots of ideas very quickly. Of course, it's always a bit intimidating meeting new people and putting yourself 'outside your comfort zone' [apologies for using this phrase]. However, once you're there it's generally fine, so off I went…

The event was fairly central London, in Faringdon, however from Waterloo it is the back side of the moon, so spent an hour(!!) getting there and was late… The event was hosted by a company who seemed to be pushing their model for examining something or other - not very impressed with that bit. However the people were fascinating. Lloyd, who I sat next to, offered an excellent description: he said that there were people from government, corporations, small / medium businesses (SMEs), lone traders and academics. All of these people are interested in and working with knowledge management in some way.

Obviously this group has fascinating discussions, and one was started on 'what is a knowledge worker?'. The discussion was learned and wide-ranging, but a couple of quotes stick out: "A knowledge worker is an asset, everyone else is a cost" - Peter Drucker.

Someone who's name I don't yet know made the excellent point that simply working with and using knowledge doesn't make one a knowledge worker. It is the sharing of knowledge that adds value to the organisation. Taking knowledge and never giving it back does not make a worker an asset…

I've not posted a new blog for nearly a month now, which is way too long. Aside from general life hecticness I have felt pressure to write a full-on articles. Looking back over the archive I can see that I have tended to write articles and not a real blog.

So here goes, a brief(ish) diary entry from the bizarre world of Dave.

First off I've managed to secure funding from work for my Open University Diploma in Business Systems (more info). Rather scarily I am now a student again! I managed to convince work because the course is related to technology and how we interact with it (which is similar to what I'm involved in at work). Even better, the course also combines this with my interests in philosophy / models of the world and personal development. This is because it also focuses on how we see the world, how to see from other's viewpoints and also how to see more holistically. This is all termed systems thinking, and it's something I am keen to develop…

I'm going to stop now, I'm off to one of David Gurteen's Knowledge Café's. I'll try to write tomorrow to let you know how it goes…



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