Out of (my) discipline

Knowledge is born at the intersection of different fields. John Seely Brown and John Hagel encourage learning from the abrasion that occurs when differing viewpoints rub up against one another, calling it productive friction. I try to keep an eye on what’s happening in areas outside my expertise, both to sense changes in the environment overall and to cross-breed ideas from one discipline with those from another.

Every morning several IT newsletters show up in my email. This morning’s item applies to training and development as much as it does to IT.

Our IT Commandments:

1. Thou shalt not outsource mission critical functions
2. Thou shalt not pretend
3. Thou shalt honor and empower thy (Unix) sysadmins
4. Thou shalt leave the ideology to someone else
5. Thou shalt not confuse projects with planning
6. Thou shalt not condemn departments doing their own IT
7. Thou shalt put thy users first, above all else
8. Thou shalt give something back to the community
9. Thou shalt not use nonsecure protocols on thy network
10. Thou shalt free thy content
11. Thou shalt not ignore security risks when choosing platforms
12. Thou shalt not fear change
13. Thou shalt document all thy works
14. Thou shalt loosely couple

Thanks, ZDnet.