The Knowledge Work Factory: Turning the Productivity Paradox into Value for Your Business

CHAPTER 5

TRANSFORMING YOUR BUSINESS INTO A KNOWLEDGE WORK FACTORY

The earliest days of launching or leading a knowledge work transformation can be downright daunting. How do you begin to organize your thinking? This chapter lays the foundation for the knowledge work factory: the four elements of industrial (and knowledge) work. To do it, we’re going to take a closer look at a real factory and see how it compares—and contrasts—with a knowledge work organization. We’ll reveal the three errors that conspire to hide the knowledge work industrialization opportunity. We’ll draw some intriguing parallels with a successful organization 50 million years in the making. And finally, we’ll provide an effective two-pronged, first-stage approach for successful ...