There's so much here for me to chew on, partly from what you wrote and partly from my experiences of the past 50 years or so. I have long believed many of the people who work at integrating social learning and collaboration within the enterprise are far too limited in their vision, which all too often tends to stop at the sidewalk of wherever they work.

I have long been an advocate of rethinking our valuation of IP as well, especially since it appears copyright and patent laws have expanded in many instances to the point where they no longer protect, but rather prevent innovation. I love the wording Robert Pye uses, " . . . execution capability rather than creation of IP." It reminds me of my experience convincing engineers to participate in our KM efforts, stressing our design and problem solving strengths were far more valuable than being over-protective of what we had already accomplished.

As one who has passed the mythical boundary of usefulness in our competitive economy, I recently discovered I needed to return to work in order to stay useful and, perhaps more importantly, to stay sharp. Freelancing wasn't making it for me. I'm just not ambitious enough, or in the right ways, to generate a useful income. I love what you're doing, as well as what so many others we connect with are working on.

Keep up the good work, Harold. I want to continue paying attention - perhaps even contributing now and then - as long as possible.