The foundational KM boundary
Tacit and Explicit Knowledge
Tacit knowledge is personal, experiential, contextual, and often difficult to articulate.
KM commonly calls documented or codified artifacts explicit knowledge. More precisely, the stored artifact is information that another person can interpret and use to develop knowledge. Conversation, observation, mentoring, demonstration, practice, feedback, and collective exchange help individuals, peers, teams, and communities develop knowledge with one another.
Knowledge crosses the boundary in both directions.
Switch routes to see direct exchange, capture into content, and delivery back into human interpretation and action.
People
experience · judgment · context · capability
Managed environment
assets · metadata · repositories · governance
Conversation, observation, mentoring, demonstration, practice, and feedback help one person develop knowledge with another.
Neither environment is sufficient alone. KM coordinates both environments and the movement between them.
That movement becomes repeatable when organizations operate a deliberate knowledge lifecycle.