Preface

Wonderful learning and innovation rarely happen by chance. Whether you are in a business or learning for yourself, you need the right game plan to succeed. Sometimes luck may come your way but, more often than not, it is your perseverance and smart thinking that will win the day.

The benefits of winning with knowledge can be far reaching, ranging from obvious gains such as higher profitability and improved performance through to other outcomes such as improved adaptability, better levels of service and contribution to customers and society.

As a corporate consultant, speaker and manager for over twenty years I have seen compelling evidence that the best formula for lasting , smarter , better business is clearly linked to how well we position our knowledge and build on each other s genius. In business, as in life, managers need to acquire a diverse and often complex range of skills to succeed. This message is particularly true to the challenge of winning the knowledge game.

People now live and operate in a business world where comparison, learning and competition play an essential part. Whether you are a small business selling fruit and vegetables or a manager making sense of the latest advances in technology, such awareness and insight is vital . It seems that every manager is now being judged on his or her level of know-how. In today s modern workplace there is nowhere to escape the need for knowledge. How fast we develop our capability and learning is the only formula that matters.

One of the great dilemmas of modern business is being fooled that you are learning smarter when you are using the latest palm-top or killer software application. The reality is that such tools and technologies are no guarantee that you are learning what you need to know.

The goal of this book is to pull together the very best of advice and help your business or career improve. It is my experience that most managers struggle to have the right conversation they need to help move them forward. They are often caught in a silo of similar thinking people or feel they do not have the time or willpower to question their own assumptions and experience. As a result, protection of one s territory, identity and expertise takes precedence over building a higher level of know-how.

What makes this challenge difficult is that our talent can often be hard to see as the genius that creates breakthroughs, ideas and innovation lies hidden in a clever design such as a microchip, a jingle or a new patent or simple procedure. Such cleverness needs to be drawn out if we are to succeed. To win the knowledge game we must be prepared to live and learn off talent and encourage others to do the same. The benefits are plain to see, whether it is the freshness and taste of a meal, the quality of advice you receive from a lawyer, or how important you feel when you first arrive at a hotel. Our knowledge and capabilities make the huge difference in how businesses and their customers perform and it must be nurtured and treasured. The fact is it is not how big our bank balance is but how we grow our imagination , enterprise and skill that matters most.

Throughout life, each person needs to perfect their own unique formula to find the tools, technologies and know-how they need to grow and develop. Most likely the people who will succeed will be those who nurture and build their capabilities on a regular and continuous basis.

Knowledge by its very nature is impermanent. What may one day seem ground-breaking and helpful may not be so the next . Learning is not something that can be bottled and kept forever but is a living process full of twists , turns and new discoveries. The key is to see each moment in life as an opportunity to discover new insights, ideas and wisdom. With this attitude the formula for winning the knowledge game is almost guaranteed .

To help you achieve this goal this book will provide the tips and knowledge you need to modify or improve your current approach. To do this, you will find out very quickly that this book gives you easy access to many fields including law, psychology, technology, management, marketing and accounting. The result being a stand-alone resource full of great tips, checklists and practical action.

Although the primary target audience for this book is managers, I do expect a host of other businesspeople to benefit. These include senior executives, team leaders , small business operators, trainers , human resource professionals, IT specialists, intellectual property advisers, librarians, school principals, academics and students.

My biggest wish is that this book will help stimulate much higher levels of implementation and innovation in business and industry through smarter teamwork, collaboration and sharing of insight. We must all discover smarter ways to build better customer relationships, reputation and service delivery.

Most people understand that to have smarter, better business we need to improve the spirit of learning, innovation and enlightenment in what they do. Winning the knowledge game is the path to success in the twenty-first century marketplace and that means investing in our brains , ingenuity and know-how.

Alastair Rylatt Director, Alastair Rylatt Consulting www.alastairrylatt.com

Acknowledgements

I have been lucky to have travelled to most corners of the globe and observed much about how people share ideas and put knowledge to work. In recent years several of my clients such as Roche Products, CSIRO, Office of State Revenue, St George Bank, Parramatta City Council, Vodafone, Gradipore and City of Sydney Council have helped shape my thinking.

On an individual level, Rudi Weber, Cec Pedersen, Karl Erik Sveiby, Rodney Gray, Glenn Capelli, Robert van der Spek, Dr Harrison Owen, Laurel Draffen, Goran Carstedt, Robyn Hutchinson, Elliot Massie, Dr Ronald Forbes, Professor Chris Hall, Peter Williams, Robyn Kramer, James Davidson, Pamela Dodd and Greg Schmidt have all been a wonderful support or inspiration to me on this journey. I would like to thank my wonderful wife Elaine, Selby and my brothers, Andrew, Dennis and Philip and of course my mother.

For me personally this book has provided me with another exciting opportunity to develop my understanding on what it takes to improve the spirit of learning, innovation and enlightenment in business. So thank you all for this great opportunity to learn yet again.