We live in the knowledge world, perform in the knowledge economy – but what do we mean by “knowledge”? For most people knowledge is fact-based, written in books and discussed at conferences. This is “explicit” knowledge.
However, if you try to examine what you actually do every day, I bet that over 50% is stuff that would fall into the category of “tacit” knowledge. The term was introduced by Michael Polanyi in “The Tacit Dimension”, and describes the fact that “we can know more than we can tell.” He termed this pre-logical phase of knowing “tacit knowledge.”
The distinction between these two forms is critical for innovation, and indeed all aspects of management. First of all, those who have more tacit knowledge are paid better (think Investment Banker vs. Production Worker.) According to McKinsey, “Tacit interactions are becoming central to economic activity.” (You can read more about this if you register for the McKinsey Quarterly for free.)
A very interesting discussion of the role of tacit knowledge in producing innovative solutions is found at InnovationLabs: 4th Generation R&D Managing Knowledge, Technology, and Innovation, “Tacit and Explicit Knowledge” and further on the Permanent Innovation blog.
Researchers in the life sciences field know first hand how hard it is to make something work by just following the “Materials and Methods” section of a published paper (and even more so of a published patent).
Perhaps finding ways to share tacit knowledge could pave the way to accelerating innovation in health care?
Veronika Litinski provides advisory services to entrepreneurs and high growth companies, with a special focus on life sciences markets, specializing in corporate finance and business development.
