Tacit knowledge is one of the most important competitive assets an organisation can possess. Yet mention it and most people say: What? Find out what it is - and why it is so vital - in the first Evolutionary Provocateur.
With four generations in the workplace there are very different views about the source of knowledge particularly as it relates to experience.
Generally the belief is the more experience you have the more knowledge you can contribute. Paying attention to this is important given the exodus of senior managers and the need to ensure knowledge transfer.
Yet the whole assessment of age and experience related knowledge ignores what we know about tacit or innate knowledge which is unique to all; it is not time dependent.
Tacit knowledge is considered to be THE most important competitive asset of the marketplace yet mention it and most people say: What?
Tacit knowledge is innate, natural know-how that is grounded in the knowledge one has gained from experience with life.
In the quest for performance overly mechanistic business cultures have devised all sorts of systems and processes to 'manage' performance which ignores or inhibits the process of natural collaboration. Secondly, many people perform according to outside expectations without realizing that their most valuable asset is their natural innate talent, one they rarely can see but others can recognize quite readily.
The secret to creating innovation that matters is embedded in two things: first gaining personal clarity that your talent is unique to you. Secondly, organizational clarity on what systems and processes unintentionally block the contribution of innate or tacit knowledge, both individually and collectively.
Evolutionary Provocateur
