Tacit knowledge

The concept of tacit knowing comes from scientist and philosopher Michael Polanyi.

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By definition, tacit knowledge is not easily shared. One of Polanyi's famous aphorisms is: "We know more than we can tell." Tacit knowledge consists often of habits and culture that we do not recognize in ourselves.

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The tacit aspects of knowledge are those that cannot be codified, but can only be transmitted via training or gained through personal experience. Tacit knowledge has been described as ?know-how? (as opposed to ?know-what? and ?know-why? ) . It involves learning and skill but not in a way that can be written down. The simplest example of the nature and value of tacit knowledge is that one does not know how to ride a bike or swim due to reading a textbook, but only through personal experimentation, by observing others, and/or being guided by an instructor.

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Tacit knowledge has been found to be a crucial input to the innovation process. A nation?s ability to innovate depends on its level of tacit knowledge of how to innovate (conduct research, develop prototypes of new products & processes, adapt these prototypes into models fit for mass-production) and of how to implement innovations into manufacturing, defense, communications, transportation, etc.

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Eugene Gendlin has developed practices for explicating 'what we know but can't yet say' - knowledge we 'feel' - for both theory development and self-exploration. His book 'Experience and the Creation of Meaning' describes seven ways in which 'explicit' and 'implicit' knowing come from each other.

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There are many implications for organizational learning and knowledge management, including:

Related Topics:
Organizational learning - Knowledge management

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• The difficulty inherent in tacit knowledge transfer is that subject matter experts and key knowledge holders may not be aware--hence, unable--to articulate, communicate and describe what they know. Thus, tacit knowledge can be a sustainable competitive advantage.
• Tacit knowledge is embedded in group and organizational relationships, core values, assumptions and beliefs. It is hard to identify, locate, quantify, map or value.
 
Tacit knowledge: Related topics ►