User:Stephendale

I live and work in the UK, happily married with two grown-up children (boy of 32 and girl of 30), and two grandchildren – who keep me fit and young! I’ve been self-employed since 1999, prior to which I worked for Reuters (now Thomson-Reuters), and before that, the Royal Navy.

My professional life and career have evolved from three key disciplines: -	understanding technology as an electrical engineer in the Royal Navy -	understanding information as a data quality manager for Reuters -	understanding people and behaviours as an independent knowledge management consultant

It is probably no surprise to anyone involved with knowledge management 9KM) that the most complex, yet potentially most interesting and rewarding element is the challenge of understanding people and behaviours. I’ve often wondered whether I might have benefited from studying Anthropology or Social Psychology at an earlier stage in my career, rather than the technology and information management route that I took. However, I’ve benefited from being able to apply a more holistic perspective to the challenges I’ve faced as an independent consultant, since most of my work has required delivering solutions at the confluence of technology, information and people. A bit like a three-legged stool, you need all three (legs) to function effectively in order to deliver something useful.

If this all seems a bit obscure, then I should explain that my consultancy work is primarily focused on helping clients improve knowledge sharing and collaboration through the deployment of learning networks that will promote personal and professional development. In a practical sense this means on-line communities – such as this one. One of my biggest projects was implementing a collaborative platform and knowledge sharing strategy for local government in England, Wales and Scotland – currently 150,000 users and growing.

But I practice what I preach; I thirst for new knowledge and consider myself a life-long learner. I completed my first MOOC with Coursera in May 2013, studying Social Network Analysis. This gave me a better understanding of how networks work, from the perspective of detecting and analysing the strength of connections, but it didn’t give me any insight to behaviours. Hence why I chose to complete Social Psychology course, which has opened up an entirely new dimension for me, and a desire to get even deeper into this topic/discipline.

At a personal level, I think I’m an adventurer, always seeking new challenges. I’ve walked the Inca Trail, climbed Mt Kilimanjaro, safari’d in the Masai Mara and the Serengeti, seen the Northern Lights and navigated 1000 miles up the River Amazon. I’m a keen follower of all sports, but especially football (soccer if you’re a US reader) and cricket. I’m also an eternal optimist, which is why I support West Ham Football Club.