PACK-RAT INFORMAVORE OPENS KNOWLEDGE DEPOSITORY
Confession may be good for the soul, but honesty is a better footing for constructive business relationships.
Truth is, I am a Pack-Rat. Always have been and (to the occasional detriment of family, friends, customers, and collaborators) always will be.
But while others collect antiques, sports and pop-culture memorabilia, or cars, I collect information: interesting magazine and newsletter articles, news stories, anecdotes, and quotes, taken daily from the stacks of paper and megabytes of data crossing my desk and CPU monitor.
By 1988, my former boss, then Wisconsin Ready Mixed Concrete Association (WRMCA) Executive Director Barbara Wesener, CAE, had developed an extensive library of ready-mix industry information for her membership, and encouraged my contributions to her collection. Little did she realize she was releasing my inner informavore. Under Barbara’s direction (and with my enthusiasm) the membership library grew exponentially.
Old Habits Neither Die Nor Fade Away
Fast-forward a decade to the Waterford, Wisconsin, farmhouse office of Alby Materials, Inc. Five years into my tenure as Construction Materials Evangelist, my information collection had significantly outgrown available file cabinets, and co-workers politely asked me to do “something” about my “clutter.’
I promised to dedicate Labor Day weekend to de-cluttering. But as I started looking through the mess, I realized I had saved some pretty solid stuff. With the help of coworkers, my mess was re-organized into the Alby Vertical File, a training resource for Alby Materials employees and a value-added service for Alby Materials customers.
At the end of 1997, the Vertical File had more than 1,000 entries. By July of 2003, when I left Alby Materials to start the Phill Domask Consultancy, entries in the Alby Vertical File exceed 5,000. Additional information was added to the Vertical Files after my resignation, but without a champion, they languished.
Old habits die hard … and Internet technology allowed me to continue collecting information resources, without the hassle of paper. My Virtual Vertical File (VVF) includes more than 3,000 entries in MS-Word or PDF format, mostly related to planning, marketing, knowledge management, public relations, and the ready-mix industry.
When Super Mix of Wisconsin purchased Alby Materials, the Alby Vertical File – now seven legal file cabinets strong – was a logistics and knowledge-management burden the new owner did not care to deal with. In a spirit of generosity, Terry Alby returned the articles, news stories, anecdotes, and quotes to me, and, in my most recent move, the seven legal files made their way northwest to Rochester, Minnesota.
The combination of my VVF and the Alby Vertical Files creates a powerful knowledge depository for concrete construction professionals. I don’t have all the answers and am not the ultimate business resource. But if you are looking for information to help build your business, The Phill Domask Consultancy Knowledge Depository is a convenient place to start. To gain access the Depository, email me.
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