Tacit Knowledge
Unspoken knowledge and experience that exists only in people's heads.
What it means
Tacit knowledge is gained through practice and is hard to put into words. It includes intuition, pattern recognition, and decision-making logic. It makes up most of an organization's real know-how.
Why it matters
Tacit knowledge determines the outcome in non-standard situations — and it's exactly what leaves with people, because it's never written down.
A real-world example
An experienced dispatcher knows when a system signal means a real problem and when it doesn't. You won't find that distinction in any manual.
Knowledge that can be written down, shared, and passed on in documented form.
Deep specialist knowledge gained through years of hands-on practice in a specific field.
The body of practical knowledge and procedures that lets an organization run and make decisions.
The managed transfer of practical knowledge from one person or team to another.
Systematic work with an organization's knowledge, from capture to use.
Unwritten knowledge shared within a team that exists nowhere in documentation.