Root vs Derivative:
One of the areas which I have taken up for sustenance is content curation.
As many of my friends in the L&D space know, content is no longer king (!?).
With the advent of internet information is available freely - just just have to look at the right place!
While I was doing this, a thought struck me.
Am I looking at the Root knowledge or the Derivative knowledge!?
Let me explain it with an example:
Say, I was looking for a content on empowerment. When I Google this term, (apart from the fact that it throws up 14 million odd hits!) there are many articles, presentations, etc. which people have themselves curated over a period of time.
I find it attractive to pick something like "Top 10 reasons why employees don't feel empowered" or "7 steps to empowerment"
However, when I saw the content, many of them were referring to some other source of information, and that source may be referring to another.
If a speaker quotes from a Newspaper, which in turn has quoted from say a Gartner report, which in turn might have referred to a Government paper that was published...it might go on & on!
So here was my dilemma...from 2 perspectives - As a trainer and As a reader (person consuming knowledge).
As a trainer, which information is Authentic ? - Am i dwelling at the superficial level or want to go in-depth to understand the actual source.
Also will i be able to support the claim that is being made with my audience.
As a reader, Am I reading a hearsay account (& I may be okay with it) or should I explore more to get to the source!
This dilemma keeps me on my toes on both counts!
Of course there are tips & trick when curating - for example:
A) Audience have deference to expert talk. If Bill Gates / Premji / Steve jobs / Gartner - says it - then it must be true!
B) People like simplicity - if there are 7 steps to do something - they find it easier to implement
C) Appeal to all senses - With NexGen employees you can make it interesting by converting it to include VAK (Visual, Auditory & Kinesthetic)
Congratulations! You have added to another 'Derivative' to the chain :-)
[Note: We can extrapolate this concept to Food as well. With levels of processing adding to the derivatives]
One of the areas which I have taken up for sustenance is content curation.
As many of my friends in the L&D space know, content is no longer king (!?).
With the advent of internet information is available freely - just just have to look at the right place!
While I was doing this, a thought struck me.
Am I looking at the Root knowledge or the Derivative knowledge!?
Let me explain it with an example:
Say, I was looking for a content on empowerment. When I Google this term, (apart from the fact that it throws up 14 million odd hits!) there are many articles, presentations, etc. which people have themselves curated over a period of time.
I find it attractive to pick something like "Top 10 reasons why employees don't feel empowered" or "7 steps to empowerment"
However, when I saw the content, many of them were referring to some other source of information, and that source may be referring to another.
If a speaker quotes from a Newspaper, which in turn has quoted from say a Gartner report, which in turn might have referred to a Government paper that was published...it might go on & on!
So here was my dilemma...from 2 perspectives - As a trainer and As a reader (person consuming knowledge).
As a trainer, which information is Authentic ? - Am i dwelling at the superficial level or want to go in-depth to understand the actual source.
Also will i be able to support the claim that is being made with my audience.
As a reader, Am I reading a hearsay account (& I may be okay with it) or should I explore more to get to the source!
This dilemma keeps me on my toes on both counts!
Of course there are tips & trick when curating - for example:
A) Audience have deference to expert talk. If Bill Gates / Premji / Steve jobs / Gartner - says it - then it must be true!
B) People like simplicity - if there are 7 steps to do something - they find it easier to implement
C) Appeal to all senses - With NexGen employees you can make it interesting by converting it to include VAK (Visual, Auditory & Kinesthetic)
Congratulations! You have added to another 'Derivative' to the chain :-)
[Note: We can extrapolate this concept to Food as well. With levels of processing adding to the derivatives]
Very well said Raju. The difference is also learning the fundamentals first in a top down approach and then proceed to application....a traditional approach. It also emphasizes learning 'right' which is possible only when it is from the right source. While theoritically everyone can be good at anything, often we find some are much more descriminative in their knowledge and understanding of the conceots, mainly because they had a good and thoughtful teacher......perhaps like you.
ReplyDeleteSridhar, Thanks for your confidence in me!
DeleteContinuing on this thread, When we talk about People skills, who is right? Is it experience or research'd concepts only?
Root versus derived good inquiry Raju .. Let me try to approach this indirectly. Heard of a place Pillamarri in Mehboobnagar district where there is 800 year old Banyan Tree apparently spread over 3 to 4 acres. Apparently a good stopover if one is travelling to Bangalore by Road, I am yet to see this myself let me make it clear. I am still talking from an idea point of view. The point is apparently it is very difficult to discern which is the main tree versus which are the derived (children) of the original tree ..
ReplyDeleteBack to the topic of the root versus derived knowledge, the process happens through multiple steps and derived knowledge serving as root for the next step .. like an evolutionary process. Don't we have great scientists like Newton acknowledging that they could look further as they stood over the shoulders of Giants.
Sometimes the derived knowledge may come back and challenge the root as well .. but that's only when a paradigm shift occurs!
Very aptly said Jagan, when you mentioned "Very difficult to discern which is root and which is derived"
DeleteThe example that comes to my mind is Stephen covey's 7 Habits, in this book most of the words/phrases are Registered / Trade Marked! leaving one to wonder if he was the originator!?