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ReviewThe Monster Under the Bed: How Business Is Mastering the Opportunity of Knowledge for Profitby Stan Davis and Jim Botkin
When I was the team leader of a large corporation's library and records group undergoing neo-engineering (I prefer, neo-engineering as re-engineering sounds too much like reverse-engineering) and a client of our services said: "read this book and you will understand what role you should be taking in this organization", I was handed one of these rare books. That book was The Monster Under the Bed: How Business Is Mastering the Opportunity of Knowledge for Profit by Stan Davis and Jim Botkin. Since reading it the first time, I have been able to hear the authors speak on different occasions and even had the pleasure of engaging Davis in a two-way discussion. I may not agree with all they have to say in this book, their other works or even in person. However, the book dramatically changed the way I thought about lifelong learning and its role in the organization as well as for various groups, such as librarians, teachers, in-house trainers, learning organizations and even all of us as lifelong learners. The authors of this book may not be the originators of the ideas of the data to wisdom hierarchy, lifelong learning and the roles of the organization in learning. It is the combination and expression of ideas that is different and for me the impact came at the right time in my career to hear the message. Never before had I really heard or understood the lesson of "learn to earn", which does not mean just making money (though there is nothing wrong with that too!) but includes adding to whatever shareholder value is in the organization's mission. Looking back after reading the book, I certainly could see the unorganized methods by which we were learning in schools and in organizations, even those that claimed to want to be knowledge-based and learning businesses. It is easier said than done. The real lesson of the book, I believe, is the realization that we must learn what counts and focus on that goal. We must make the learning real, inexpensive, accessible and empowering. It must be focused on the individual where he or she is now and where he or she must go. We must help individuals access the tools and methods that have meaning to them and help them achieve their missions of job fulfilment and security. As for the learner himself or herself, we must ensure he or she as an employee keeps organizationally supported learning in alignment with the organization's goals for wealth creation, whether that wealth be monetary or other stakeholder value. The organization's learning initiatives also must be kept in alignment with its own mission, vision and value. We all must march to the mission and make learning key to the annual or more frequent employee review. The rewards too must be tangible, real and matched to the results. No more learning for the sake of learning and measuring by the number of courses taken or degrees earned. We must find some way to measure the value that the difference in learning has made to the bottom-line in both tangible and those less tangible (more commonly known as intangible) assets. Read more about the Seven Basic Truisms and the Six New R's to add to the current three. Where and how do I disagree with the authors? Much of what they say, I believe, applies to training and not to true learning or educating. The employee that can think rather than just do is the one who will add significant value in a day and age that relies on innovation and where individuals and organizations must move quickly to embrace, create and utilize change as and even before it unfolds. We need the speed of revolution not the snail pace of evolution. To do that we must educate thinkers not train doers. The authors do express these ideas at various points in their works, speeches and conversations but they are not always consistent or give the emphasis that this message requires. However, their book is well worth a read for anyone that either must become a lifelong learner or help others do so. In short, that means anyone and everyone! To order:
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