A

A.S.K. and you shall receive.

Part of a presentation to the “Consulting as a Career Option” course participants, (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), March 14, 2001. Developed and presented by Fred Pentney.

The A.S.K. formula:

We have already dealt with the A. for attitude, S. for skills, and now to complete the formula, K is for knowledge. Let’s review the reason for using this acronym. We want to stimulate a positive shift to action in our thinking processes. By linking together three separate areas of personal development, we have created a formula by which to develop a clearer perception and greater understanding of the world we live in, and consequently the world that WE create. The topics of attitude, skills and knowledge are inextricably linked. When we consciously develop bridges between them, we benefit from the synergy, which is, that the whole (the results) will be greater than the sum of the parts.

K is for knowledge. Objective: how to develop a knowledge base.
Prelude: The phrase "I know" is used by many to circumvent having to listen to someone else explain their perspective on an item. The follow up response to "I know" should be, "Can you do it (demonstrate, explain)?; and if not, will you do it (motivation)?" In other words using "To know" without experience or the ability to explain is an avoidance technique. Check items in your inventory of what you think you know without having actually experienced ordemonstrated how you know something. Here are some of the steps to giving substance to the statement " I know." Give your search for knowledge some structure and eventaully the process will become second nature.

Knowledge and its definitions:

Knowledge is a highly respected commodity. It can be a lifeline for when we, as individuals, venture into a previously untrodden intellectual arena. Or, it can be a measure of the amount of attention we have paid on our journey through life. There are many definitions available and in the text below the application and meaning will be apparent. I will, however, expand on one definition, the one that is relative to our formula. Knowledge defined as, “A familiarity gained by experience of a person a fact or a thing.” My focus will be on the word “experience.”

Knowledge vs. experience:Knowledge includes the word “know” and it is common for people to say that they know something without necessarily having done anything with what they know. They may talk about what they know, but beyond that they haven’t used their knowledge. For example, knowing the way to a destination does not necessarily mean that a person has been to that place. If they know how to get there, and have actually traveled the route, their knowledge would be applied knowledge or experience and knowledge. They may be familiar with the thing they know, but I propose that knowledge that has the greatest value comes from being developed through an experience. First observed and then practiced. It has impact, leaves an impression, causes a change in our behaviour at the time or when we apply the knowledge. We can also seek ways, challenge ourselves, to connect what we now “know” with the knowledge that we have already stored. This will include experiential and non-experiential knowledge. The accumulation of experiential knowledge contributes to the knowledge base we call wisdom.

Knowledge as a driver to action:

Our goal is to encourage you to take part in as many activities as possible, and reasonable, to expand your knowledge base. If there is a current focus in your life, make a list of the possible activities related to your area of interest. With what could you get involved that you haven’t already done so? What have other people in, that field, experienced that you have not? Find out. Define the various categories, groups, sub groups in your search area and define some resources. Make your next steps for acquiring knowledge include listing people who you could talk to. Set a minimum target of how many people you should talk to about your quest. Call them (see recommendations in last section) interview them, and exchange information with them. Let them qualify what you think you know. Be open, listen rather than talk. Sometimes there is no right or wrong or better or worse, just different.

Knowledge through asking questions:

Asking questions is one of the greatest skills that you can develop to use for learning. As we have all experienced when traveling, it is often necessary to ask more that one person for directions because the information you receive isn’t always accurate. The person you ask may be interested in helping, sincere or even consider themselves an expert, but this does not guarantee the information you need is complete. So you ask another person. You are trying to reduce the probability of error or misinformation. Good questioning will help do this.

Qualifying knowledge:

Don’t try to qualify everything that you hear. Make notes and reserve judgment until you have more information. Look for the connectivity between new information and what you already know. Going back to our map and destination analogy, we might compare this to discovering that there are many different roads to arrive at the same destination. And, there are many activities to make you journey more enjoyable and informative on the way. Sometimes as a result of what you learn on the way, you might decide to even change your destination or stay longer at the interim points. Life holds many surprises and being open to acquiring knowledge can be a key to discovery.

Tacit knowledge and the visceral experience:

Tacit knowledge can be obtained by observing and having a sense of how to do things with or without or experiencing the action. We suggest living up to the slogan, ‘Do it.’ Feel it in your bones. Remember the failures in the first few tries. Eventually you want the activity to produce as refined an action as possible. Practice makes perfect. Confidence comes from mastery. Self-esteem from accomplishment provides the stimulus to learn more and take on greater challenges.

The knowledge base:

How does this procedure help develop a knowledge base. Think of the term, experience. We all know of the employers who will not hire people who do not have ‘experience.’ Those companies know the value of experience and will not risk their business on people who do not have a track record that can be examined. The rejected person’s response is generally to say, “Well how are you supposed to get the experience if they won’t hire you?” There’s the challenge. The answer, create a knowledge base. Become an expert in your field through reading and practicing your craft, attending seminars, giving free or low cost workshops. Do volunteer work in your related fields. Work for less pay or perform related community service. Mentor or coach other people who have less experience than you do. Seize every opportunity to be part of an activity related to your field. The activities will give you both academic and the visceral knowledge that will be filed in your cells, ready to be retrieved on demand. The knowledge base will not just include facts which you regurgitate. The facts will be supported by memories of what it felt like to perform an action. The voice of experience. This voice will have creditability, authority and confidence.

Planning for the change:

Part of the planning process necessitates defining our objectives and creating a plan. We would suggest using the checklist below to sketch out some resources and set levels of priority. From that point scheduling time for the various activities is important. Try and build into your daily, weekly or monthly planner activities which will develop your knowledge base. Look at the value of some of your present activities and compare them to the potential of new experiences.

Below is a table and checklist that we might use to develop our plan, establish resources and track progress. The sub groups, A-D, might include quick conversations, references, chapters in a book, etc. The ranking from 1 to 6 down is to establish levels of priority. I think it is critical to prioritize your contacts and pace the timing. You do not necessarily want to contact the top authorities in a field at the start of your knowledge base search and development. It may be prudent in many cases to develop a strategy of when to make contact. This point is emphasized by Alea and Mullins in their book, The Best Work of Your Life, Perigree Books, 1998. Decide where a person fits in terms of the value of the information you need, what you can give back in return, and the timing in case you only get to meet them once.

.The Knowledge Base - action table for one topic
Subject:	Start date:	.			Finish date:
1-6 = priority	A. Initial contact focus:	B. Resources referred to:	C. Other persns to contact	D. Attend... events etc.	Notes:.
Contact person::
1.John Doe	.Discussed item	.Read...	.Speak to...	.Attend....	.O.K. to call back
2.Mary X.	.Discuss item	.	.Speak to..	.	.
3.	.	.	.	.	.
4.	.	.	.	.	.
5.	.	.	.	.	.
6.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.
Events/places:	.	.	.	.	.
1.Annual General Meeting	.Attended ....	.Met....	.Literature...	.	.
2.	.	.	.	.	.
3.	.	.	.	.	.
4.	.	.	.	.	.
5.	.	.	.	.	.
6.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.
Books/resources:	.	.	.	.	.
1.	.	.	.	.	.
2.	.	.	.	.	.
3.	.	.	.	.	.
4.	.	.	.	.	.
5.	.	.	.	.	.
6.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.

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