Tacit knowledge is knowledge that individuals have but may not be aware of, and is difficult to document or communicate. It is acquired through learning a skill set and is often transferred informally. Companies use structured interviews, learning by being informed, and observational learning to capture this knowledge.
Tacit knowledge is a concept, originally developed in philosophy, which is one of the basic premises of what is known as the theory of knowledge. In knowledge theory, there are two fundamental types of knowledge that an individual can have: explicit and tacit. Explicit knowledge is knowledge that can be explained and, if necessary, easily communicated orally or in writing. Tacit knowledge, on the other hand, is knowledge that an individual has but may not be aware of, and is difficult, if not impossible, to document, describe, or communicate in writing or verbally. Often, tacit knowledge is described as “knowing how” rather than knowing what or knowing why.
Simply put, tacit knowledge is the term used to describe the fact that individuals may know more than they know. An example of this knowledge is knowing how to ride a bike or swim. While it is possible to write a long list of instructions on how to ride a bike or swim, it is not possible to communicate all that he or she knows internally about the activity or how he or she does it because the individual is unaware of some of her knowledge.
Tacit knowledge is often acquired as part of learning a skill set, whether through instruction, observation, imitation or practice. Once the skill is learned, individuals develop an understanding of the skill that is virtually impossible to communicate. As part of a theory of how individuals learn and come to understand and know processes and procedures, tacit knowledge has become an important area of study and research in management and organizational behavior.
In many cases, the kind of knowledge that a master craftsman or top manager has acquired is the result of learning and years of individual experiences and ideas. Transfers of tacit knowledge are usually done informally through conversations or storytelling and require personal contact and trust. A lot of “know-how” or knowledge of how work is actually done can be lost to the organization because of this.
Companies have developed three basic approaches to capturing this type of knowledge from individuals and groups. A structured interview of experts in a given field is the most common technique; an example of this is an exit interview. Learning by being informed, whether through interviews or task analysis, is another technique. Finally, observational learning is used: an expert is given a case study or sample problem and then the process he uses to solve the problem is observed.
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