Knowledge?

I am re-reading Brian Tracy's book Victory!: Applying the Proven Principles of Military Strategy to Achieve Success in Your Business and Personal Life and found myself this morning finishing up the section called "The Principle of Intelligence - Get the Facts".  From the chapter:

"Knowledge and know-how are your keys to the twenty-first century.  The more accurate information and knowledge that you acquire and apply to achieve results, the more valuable you will be come.  The greater your value, the more you will be paid and the faster you will be promoted." (P. 117)

As I pondered this a bit running this morning I thought about knowledge - what I have and what I do not have.  It is true that we work in a largely knowledge based economy, although that knowledge base can reflect either learning or actual physical knowledge/on the job training as well.  At the same time, we live in a world that is becoming more and more knowledge based - and competitive as a result.

I look at my own career in my industry - 15 years as of next month - and both the advances and changes that have occurred within it.  One thing that has become increasingly apparent to me as I progress through the years is that knowledge (and the skills that come from that knowledge) are good, but they are not everything.  The greatest amount of knowledge in the universe cannot substitute for a place for that knowledge to be used.

This is the thought that is beginning to nag at my mind.

As I review resumes for Fear Mor's replacement, I am finding people with the same years of experience as I have - or more - looking for a position two steps down.  People that have the knowledge and skills but are looking to essentially start over.

What do I do with this?  I am becoming increasingly conscious at this point that my own education and background, which were never the typical education for my field, are more and more becoming a liability as I am in the mix with individuals who have a much more typical path.  And eduction - a four to six year process - is not quite in the cards for me at this moment.

Where does that leave me?  Unstable, perhaps clinging a bit more than I would like to a profession and position that is not my ideal.  The problem, of course, is that clinging produces desperation and desperation produces unhappiness.  Reveal your desperation and you have revealed the fact that you are a tool to be used and discarded rather than an asset to be treasured and kept.

We do live in a knowledge based world - but knowledge alone is not enough to create the product of me or put it in a stable environment and gaining more knowledge in that field is not a guarantee of continued success.  Would that I could see the knowledge that would make such product creation and stability possible.