I'm not sure how I missed this one from David Gurteen in October 2006*. Thankfully, Jim found and blogged it for me, Attributes of effective knowledge workers:
... David Gurteen provides a nice starting point for discussion around attributes of effective knowledge workers.
While I would certainly want people with these attributes working for me and around me, I am less certain that these are uniquely related to knowledge work. Nor, for that matter, am I certain that that matters. Your thoughts?
David's list comprises nearly 40 characteristics of knowledge workers, such as "playful" and "integrity." Interesting that "curious" isn't one of the listed criteria, as that is one of the qualities I bring to the table. (I see one of the commenters added this attribute.) And the concept of learning is hidden in the list too. One of the commenters, Christopher Dean, synthesized the longer list into a more manageable set:
- Knowledgeable
- Communicative
- Self-reliant
- Decisive
- Innovative
- Connects with others
- Positive perception (my re-wording)
- Provides leadership
- Releases people's potential
- Creates value
Christopher Dean, the commenter, suggests the list is much more of a set of qualities of a leader. And Jim McGee suggests these attributes apply to just about any kind of worker that I might need. This, of course, gets back to the question of what is a knowledge worker. With this list of attributes, I return to the sense that just about anyone could be a knowledge worker.
* Actually, I know why I missed it. I've been selectively reading as I get busy, and this was posted during one of those times.