Tacit knowledge

Tacit knowledge or tacit knowledge ( tacit knowledge from English ) means, in simple terms, " can, without being able to say how ". Someone "knows how to do it ", but his knowledge is implicit in his ability, he lacks the words to describe this skill or to convey it to others verbally. An example of this is the ability to keep the balance on the bike. Who can that knows - but only implicitly - a complex physical rule, the inclination angle, current speed, centrifugal laws and steering angle into account. Tacit knowledge is what is explicitly contrasted with knowledge in the SECI model and is often acquired through implicit learning. Embodied Knowledge is to be understood as a special form of tacit knowledge.

Definition

Even in everyday use of the concept of knowledge is a distinction between explicit and tacit knowledge. That someone knows how the leaves of wild garlic differs from the similar leaves of lily of the valley, may mean the one hand, that although he formulate precisely and "say" may, where the striking differences lie (without the leaves necessarily even then to be able to practically distinguish ). His knowledge is then explicitly. Knowing how to distinguish, but can also mean that you one can reliably differentiate from the other, without being able to enumerate the distinguishing features. Then ' plugged ' the knowledge in question, as it in practical skills, it is implicit.

A more precise definition must on the one hand it refer to the skillfully applied practice which may be a single people, but also a whole group or organization, and on the other hand, the fact that knowledge only for experienced players, but also for the observer may be implicitly. Tacit knowledge is then defined as showcased seized in successful individual or organizational practice by the actors and possibly also by the observer but not analyzed or not fully or adequately explizierbares ( verbalisierbares, objectifiable, strictly formal, technisierbares ) knowledge.

The sometimes almost synonymously used term everyday knowledge is transverse to the concept of tacit knowledge. On the one hand is common knowledge often in explicit form, on the other hand are parts of science knowledge implicitly, what next Thomas Kuhn, Michael Polanyi has also just pointed out again and again.

Origin

The concept of tacit knowledge goes back to the scientist and philosopher Michael Polanyi. However, this was not using the term " tacit knowledge", but spoke of tacit knowing. Better than in the German translation ( " tacit knowledge " ) is reflected by the fact that the interest is not primarily the knowledge, but rather the " mastery " is valid, non-cognitive structures so, but mental processes. The focus is on perception, decision and action dispositions and their corresponding forms of more or less intuitive performance regulation ( knowing ). Only from there is the "tacit knowing view" on the relationship between explicit knowledge ( knowledge ) and this skill back in demand. The hypothesis is that the theoretical knowledge practical ability can never fully catch up. "We know more than we can say ," said Michael Polanyi.

Shades of meaning

On closer examination, four meanings of the concept can be distinguished " tacit knowledge ", which will be briefly illustrated by examples in the following:

Measurement

Empirically, tacit knowledge is (meaning 3) interpreted as the difference between skill and size explicit knowledge generally and measured accordingly. It is on the one hand captures what a person can, on the other hand measured what she knows berichtbar; speak as the difference arises then what (only ) implicitly " know " is. The articulated knowledge must of course be tested to see if it actually works or controlling action but is only expressed in the interview situation. The latter is for example the case of subsequent rationalization of acts of the case, which had been exported intuitive.

Reception and meaning

The concept of tacit knowledge has experienced a notable increase in recent years. General growing interest in the intuitive. Thus, Gerd Gigerenzer about examples of tacit knowledge dar. In many situations turn out to be surprisingly intuitive decisions ( often with the help of unconscious rules of thumb ) more successful than systematic consideration processes. In knowledge management the concept of tacit knowledge was, however rezipiert in a very trivializing form, especially in the SECI model by Nonaka / Takeuchi. Special attention is also the concept in teacher education discussion where has always been the theory-practice problem is discussed in detail. Implicit, not (yet) is metamorphosed and only " -felt " in terms of knowledge, it is believed, often for artists a source for the production of their works dar. at the Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen attempting this and other properties of implicit knowledge in the laboratory to make scientifically useful for implicit and artistic knowledge.

The possibilities and limitations of explication of tacit knowledge are particularly important here, where knowledge is to be replaced by the person to emulate, for example, human can technically. With varying degrees of success rather an attempt is made to convert implicit knowledge about methods of knowledge engineering a process chain ( externalization, structuring, formalizing and encoding) into explicit knowledge.