20 Feb 2022 · #leadership

Levels of understanding & tacit knowledge

Tacit knowledge is knowledge that is difficult to impart through words alone. It is often knowledge that has been developed through practice and underlies expert thinking that responds to complex and dynamic environments.

When learning something new people often focus on the things that are most visible, such as specific tools or techniques. However, in order to develop skill, it’s necessary to go deeper and explore the things which are less visible, i.e. tacit knowledge. The following questions may serve as a useful framework for the levels of understanding to develop when learning something new.

Given an approach/tool/method…

1. What is it saying?
2. Why is it true? (or not)
3. When is it useful?