Richard McDermott is one of the leading thinkers, authors and consultants on designing knowledge organizations and building communities of practice. For nearly two decades, he has worked with engineering, professional service, sales, and manufacturing firms to maximize the productivity of knowledge workers. He was the subject matter expert for two national studies of best practices in knowledge management; one on creating a knowledge-sharing culture and another on institutionalizing communities of practice. He is also a frequent speaker at international conferences. Prior to starting his consulting practice, Richard worked in the Corporate Education department at Polaroid, where he designed career development programs for technical professionals and experienced first-hand the dilemmas of being a knowledge worker. He was a Research Assistant at the Harvard Business School and a faculty member at Lesley College, teaching management, organizational behavior, and organizational change.