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Many of those who participate in 21st-century business or enterprise understand the idea of knowledge workers contributing intangibles to the marketplace rather than participating in industrial, product-driven business processes. However, not as many people have really considered how to think like a knowledge worker and operate well in a work environment where ideas are often more important than materials, and knowledge or access to data frequently trumps physical skills like strength and dexterity. The idea of how to think like a knowledge worker is really a subjective one, but there are some common guidelines that will often benefit those who need to adapt their way of thinking to a less tangible, more complex idea-driven economy.

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EditSteps

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    Develop a global approach to a field or industry. Part of succeeding in the business world of the 21st century is understanding how products, services and ideas move across international lines. In a global approach, there is often a specific emphasis on the same kinds of parties and values that knowledge workers access, utilize or draw on. That means that part of being a successful knowledge worker often includes an element of globalism.
    • Read the work of globalist journalists and theorists. For example, Thomas Friedman is a notable and outspoken proponent of identifying global knowledge-based opportunities, and reading books like his "The Lexus and the Olive Tree" can help bring business leaders into a fuller understanding of how individual knowledge workers converge with a global economy.
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    Do cross-reading. Another part of really understanding the role of a knowledge worker is to get diverse data on a field or industry through cross-reading. This involves keeping track of what newspapers, magazines, web venues and other publications are saying about a field, as well as finding more "inside" published materials, such as newsletters, for greater access to information about recent events in a business or industrial community.
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    Strive for a fair and balanced outlook. Another principle of a knowledge worker's mindset is to separate fact from opinion. Those who do not adhere to a somewhat empirical, fact-driven approach will often lose out in struggles to maintain authority on a field or develop other roles as a knowledge worker.
    • Always address technical content and fact. In creation of knowledge work outreach materials, the individual should work to access and use all sorts of relevant factual information.
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    Identify intangible values of ideas. Another big aspect of operating like a knowledge worker is to evaluate how ideas gain currency, and how they can be used within a certain business or economic context.
    • For trainers and educators, as well as business leaders and many others, information can be most useful in the form of curriculum. The idea of curriculum supports the notion that general data, compiled into the right format, can have a value all its own.
    • Develop sources. This idea is also critical to the concept of "value of information." Perhaps best known as a tool for journalists and reporters, sources can also be extremely valuable for a vast range of knowledge workers.
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    Understand some background on the theory of knowledge work. Approach some of the principles that leading theoreticians have written about knowledge workers and integrate these into an overall outlook.
    • Some of the main theories of knowledge work include the idea of knowledge as a growing organism, along with principles for knowledge management, and a natural need for proliferation of knowledge. All of these ideas can be valuable in developing a more knowledge-centered outlook on a field or enterprise, or any other element of a business community.
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