About knowledge workers

There are a few ways to categorize job titles across industries

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IBM: Knowledge workers, typically those with advanced training and years of experience, have become a valuable asset for companies worldwide. Businesses lean on these people who “think for a living” to drive innovation, solve problems and manage personnel.

See also other examples:

• Kolekti: What is a Knowledge Worker?

• Indeed: What Is a Knowledge Worker and What Do They Do? (With Types)

I had an interview with a colleague yesterday about the Knowledge Worker topic and my opinion about it. The content will become part of the investigation for a Master Thesis.

We covered aspects like status quo in the company, where am I coming from and going to, differences between Waterfall and Agile project management, the role of the individual employee and their management, industry trends, life-long-learning, talent and knowledge management, etc.

For me personally the answer is definitely driven by the years behind and in front of you in your working career. At the beginning you just finished your education and cannot wait to use the knowledge in real life. After 35 years, as in my current situation, you will see a lot of topics differently, due to your expertise, experience and learning over time.

• 3 years ago I started in the Agile world after 30+ years in Waterfall projects. Self-managed and organized teams, no line management anymore and Agile roles driving the project and organization forward would be my dream scenario. Without a change in mindset, culture and commitment, we will never reach this.

• Learning, un-learning and re-learning will be key to survive in the war-for-talent, to better handle a professional knowledge transfer, storage and management, to be prepared for the baby boomers leaving in the next 5 years, for smartly supporting up to five different generations in the work environment, to get ready for 2024 technology trends and most-in-demand skills. I did not even mention AI yet ...

• Learn all you can about yourself: Your personality and learning types, your attitude, mindset, values, motivation, way of handling change, your skills, experience and expertise. Your Strength and Weakness (SWOT), your IKIGAI, purpose and many more. You just have to start - in a world with Internet, ChatGPT and Gemini for example, there is no stopping anymore for personal growth ...