EverFile

Knowledge Nomads

Todd L. Pittinsky, Harvard University, and Margaret J. Shih, University of Michigan, use the metaphor "Knowledge Nomads" to present the idea that mobile workers are capable of building meaningful commitments to and relationships with organizations. This is different from the view that sees mobile workers as itinerant wanderers, moving frequently with no commitment to the organizations where they work or conduct other activities. Pittinsky and Shih re-conceptualize the relationship between worker commitment and worker mobility and put it in a positive light.

Reference

Knowledge Nomads: Organizational Commitment and Worker Mobility in Positive Perspective. In American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 47, No. 6, 791-807 (2004).

Visualizing Your Career Development

In the DVD "The Secret" the authors, physicists, metaphysicians, visionaries, and psychologists who are interviewed talk about positive intention and visualizing things in order to materialize them, to attract them into one's life.

EverFile is a tool designed to help knowledge workers visualize their career development and materialize opportunities. How does EverFile help? A subscriber can develop a detailed and cumulative personal record over time, making it far easier to see her or his overall experience level, skill set, and domains of interest and competence. When it is possible to see a greater view of the landscape, it is possible to be clearer about the goal and the course to follow. This is useful for visualizing and attracting positive, life enhancing events and situations.

Will Everyone Have a Portfolio Career?

Will the portfolio career (a number of part-time jobs that combine to be the equivalent of a full-time position) become the norm? Will all workers need to formulate and maintain portfolio careers in order to make a living as companies continue to shed traditional roles and responsibilities? It's possible.

In this scenario having a few resumes won’t fully help an individual take advantage of various interests and talents and exploit opportunities that come along. Personal presentations must be more and more ad hoc, easily generated and crafted to respond quickly to a change or new opportunity. What is needed is an expandable, structured database of personal information that can serve up a relevant resume or portfolio almost instantly. Then the individual is prepared and agile.