Back to the Phenomenological Roots of Tacit Knowledge

The true ancestors of tacit knowledge studies and application may be traced back not to the technological innovators or the empirical psychologists, but rather to phenomenology and existential philosophy. It is within the texts of thinkers such as Husserl, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and existentialists like Kierkegaard and Sartre, that the foundational concepts underpinning the contemporaneous quest for tacit knowledge can be discovered.

Phenomenology, with its central concern for experience as it is directly lived, views knowledge as a deeply personal, contextual, and inherently non-quantifiable entity. This approach considers knowledge not as an abstract or static commodity but as an interplay of experience, consciousness, and intentionality. Edmund Husserl’s work, which elaborated on the intentionality of consciousness and the importance of the lifeworld (Lebenswelt), provides a theoretical framework that recognizes the intrinsic value of the tacit dimension of knowledge — the unarticulated know-how, beliefs, and perceptions that inform everyday actions and decisions.

‍Martin Heidegger offers an expansion of phenomenology that includes an analysis of Dasein (being-in-the-world) and the concept of "being-towards-death," which underscores the situatedness of human understanding. Heidegger's emphasis on the embeddedness of human existence within a world of significance and his notion of 'throwness' (Geworfenheit) echo the ways in which tacit knowledge is bound up with one's immediate social and historical context.

Existential philosophers like Søren Kierkegaard and Jean-Paul Sartre, with their emphasis on subjective reality, personal authenticity, and freedom of choice, offer a view of human beings as creators of value and meaning. This existentialist perspective aligns with the nature of tacit knowledge, which is often forged in the crucible of personal experience and existential choice, escaping codification and measurement.

Tacit knowledge studies, therefore, have their theoretical roots in the phenomenological tradition that prioritizes direct experience, the pre-reflective, and the subjective. It is a discipline that cannot be fully explained by objective observation or scientific measurement alone — echoing the phenomenological stance that reality is constructed through human experience and consciousness. The phenomenological and existentialist philosophers predate and presage Michael Polanyi’s formulation of tacit knowledge by elucidating the essential, ineffable human faculties of understanding, learning, and being.

These philosophers advocated for a form of knowing that transcends the explicit and enters the realm of the implicit — a mode of understanding that is integral to the human condition. They championed the idea that there is more to knowledge than can be said, written, or digitized. Thus, the foundations they laid form the bedrock upon which tacit knowledge studies and application stand today, suggesting that the founding fathers of this discipline may be found within phenomenology and existentialism.

Adopting a phenomenological lens in attempts of harnessing tacit knowledge may offer several strategic advantages that distinguish them from coaching, psychology, and mainstream organizational knowledge management perspectives.

First, while coaching and psychology largely focus on the individual’s development within existing frameworks of understanding, phenomenology invites us to reconsider the very framework itself. It is not about optimizing within the given; it's about questioning the given. This ontological reevaluation can lead organizations to uncover deeper insights into their own knowledge practices, encouraging a rebirth of learning cultures that honor the complexity of individual experience.

Second, where organizational knowledge management seeks to codify and standardize knowledge to achieve efficiency (now inspired by the advent of AI), a phenomenological approach appreciates the inherent messiness and variability of human knowledge. It strategically acknowledges that the most valuable insights often emerge from the 'noise' rather than the 'signal', thereby fostering environments where creativity and innovation are not by-products, but the core of knowledge exchange.

Moreover, unlike the traditional psychological approach that may pathologize the inability to express or codify knowledge, phenomenology sees this 'silence' as a space of potential. It posits that what cannot be articulated might not be a deficit but could indicate a profound level of expertise or understanding. This perspective strategically values the intuitive over the explicit, providing a counterbalance to the prevailing over-reliance on data-driven decision-making.

In upcoming posts, I will explore some ideas for applying the phenomenological approach to transferring tacit knowledge within organizational contexts.