[Dennis Kalma]

There is an IBM Fellow, name I think is Larry Pangracs....he had the right idea about knowledge management....3 types of knowledge:

Explicit, Embedded and Tacit.

Explicit knowledge is the type you can document in a book or guide. It generally can be learned on one's own...e.g. the science behind what thickness of beam required to hold up a bridge, generally materials knowledge, leverage, centroids and all that stuff. It teaches you the why and once absorbed you can then figure it out.

Embedded knowlege is the type that is part of a process....e.g. you can follow a procedure but step by step, and come out with an answer. You willl not necessarily learn the why's or how to apply it to another different problem with similar characteristics but you sure can make it work for what it was designed for. Computer automated processes are examples.

Tacit knowledge is the understanding of how to approach a problem set, what is done....rules of thumb. It is the toughest, because it can only be taught by story telling and examples - face to face. It is what your grandfather told you what he did in WW2 (the big one) where he really is teaching you about morals, ethics and so forth.

What I found interesting is that there are many examples of two teams or groups, one knows how to solve a particular problem, the other can't. You can send documents (explicit knowledge) or step by step instructions, but they still don't "get it". Make the two teams go to a bar for an evening of drinking and both will come out knowing how to solve the problem...maybe even make it better.

Based on this, what you want to do is get the old guys sitting with the new guys telling them about "the time when...." and the combination of new, uncluttered brains coupled with experienced ones will make the magic happen. You can't write it down until it becomes very mature doctrine as no one will read a document (or write it for that matter) that describes the whole situation including all the relevant points of view and data.

Once I "got" this...put it to work, Larry was right.....it does work and there is no way to really capture or document it.....it is a profoundly human process

Dennis