It's a Group Thing

Workscaping sounds like fun! It's an opportunity to gather together with others, sharing your knowledge and gathering knowledge, without feeling intimidated or estranged. The setting is informal and its occurence is spontaneous, free flowing and productive. It's a chance to work without it being perceived as loafing or wasting time. Most of all it is understood as a learning tool.

Workscaping allows staff to follow their interests as it pertains to the area(s) in which they work. The article, Working Smarter Through Workscaping', by Jay Cross, advocates that employees stay engaged when they are able to take leadership with their interest. Cross's comments about responsibility and authority struck a chord with me. I have often seen where staff members have no authority and all of the responsibility. So, they bare the responsibility if they are wrong, despite the fact that they are given poor information and are doing what they have been told to do, but they have no authority to change a process mid-stream if they recognize that it needs to be done. I have found that people are more willing to take responsibility, if they have a hand in the decision making. Workscaping would allow this.


"Professional[s]...don't just master subject matter; they become members of their profession."


"Professionals learn from one another."


"Perhaps the most important, self-motivated workers apply what they've learned immediately."

Learning from a group who have traveled in the footsteps I must follow, has far more impact than learning from those who can only theorize. Hearing first hand the experiences of others, then taking morsels of information from their story and applying it is what learning is all about. I have found that as I mature, my memory is not as good as it was when I was younger. So, I must take more notes. Sometimes the notes contain not just what was said but also what I saw or experienced. These play important parts for me by keeping an order of recollection, when it is time to practice what was learned. (And some days, at least in my case, I have to do this quickly or I will forget where I placed the notes; despite the fact that I always put them is a safe place :) This helps what I learned to become a part of me and keeps me motivated. This way I find out if I learned or if I need to try again. Most importantly, it keeps me moving, because whatever the subject matter, I want to reach the end result--becoming the subject.

I enjoyed the article and have developed a real affinity for informal learning opportunities. They offer a more relaxed atmosphere where knowledge is not hoarded, but shared freely; there is less concern about being or doing wrong, because the emphasis is on the learning process; there is less opportunity for processes to become stade, because someone is always considered a better way to do it. I cannot say unanimously that every business could total operate in the ways suggested, but it would be interesting to at least see some of them try it. In an age of technology, choosing to maintain antiquated methods and process is totally unacceptable.