The tacit dimension of expertise: Professional vision at work in airport security

Whereas “professional vision” has been mostly analyzed in apprenticeship and other settings where knowledge is made explicit or reflected upon, I focus on how expertise tacitly plays out in task-oriented interaction among practitioners. The paper considers orientation both to the coworker’s (recipient design) and one’s own (expressive order) expertise in the collaborative accomplishment of airport security work. I show how screeners recruit action from colleagues in largely underspecified ways, based on shared access to the visibility field and expected professional vision. Requesting is tacitly accomplished via “highlighting,” which also accounts for one’s request. Accepting is silently achieved via locomotion, which also serves as a display of understanding. Embodied action is systematically preferred to verbal one. Talk is employed in larger proportions when the domain of scrutiny is not equally accessible to interactants, and when “face-work” is required.

The Tacit Dimension

In architecture, tacit knowledge plays a substantial role in both the design process and its reception. The essays in this book explore the tacit dimension of architecture in its aesthetic, material, cultural, design-based, and reflexive understanding of what we build. Tacit knowledge, described in 1966 by Michael Polanyi as what we ‘can know but cannot tell’, often denotes knowledge that escapes quantifiable dimensions of research. Much of architecture’s knowledge resides beneath the surface, in nonverbal instruments such as drawings and models that articulate the spatial imagination of the design process. Awareness of the tacit dimension helps to understand the many facets of the spaces we inhabit, from the ideas of the architect to the more hidden assumptions of our cultures. Beginning in the studio, where students are guided into becoming architects, the book follows a path through the tacit knowledge present in materials, conceptual structures, and the design process, revealing how the tacit dimension leads to craftsmanship and the situated knowledge of architecture-in-the-world.

The Tacit Dimension

Within architecture, tacit knowledge plays a substantial role both within the design process and its reception. This book explores the tacit dimension of architecture in its aesthetic, material, cultural, design-based, and reflexive understanding of what we build. Much of architecture’s knowledge resides beneath the surface, in nonverbal instruments such as drawings and models that articulate the spatial imagination of the design process. Tacit knowledge, described in 1966 by Michael Polanyi as what we ‘can know but cannot tell’, often denotes knowledge that escapes quantifiable dimensions of research. Beginning in the studio, where students are guided into becoming architects, the book follows a path through the tacit knowledge present in models, materials, conceptual structures, and the design process, revealing how the tacit dimension leads to craftsmanship and the situated knowledge of architecture-in-the-world. Awareness of the tacit dimension helps to understand the many facets of the spaces we inhabit, from the ideas of the architect to the more hidden assumptions of our cultures.

Tacit Knowledge Sharing for System Integration

Sharing of tacit knowledge is a key topic of research within the knowledge management community. Considering its embodied nature, organizations have always struggled with embedding it into their processes. Proper execution of complex processes such as system integration asks for an adequate sharing of tacit knowledge. Acknowledging the importance of lessons learned for system integration and their presence in tacit and explicit form, a case study was conducted within the Netherlands Railways. It was determined that non-sensitivity to the tacit dimension of lessons learned has resulted in their lack of utilization. Consequently, LEAF framework was developed, where LEAF stands for learnability, embraceability, applicability, and findability. The framework suggests that addressing these four features collectively can eventually lead to an adequate knowledge-sharing strategy for lessons learned. Lastly, the chapter presents an example from the Netherlands Railways to emphasize the key role technological solutions of Industry 4.0 can play in facilitating tacit knowledge sharing.

Supervisors’ Reliance on Tacit Knowledge and Impediments to Knowledge Sharing in Trades

Construction field supervisors often exchange stories about how decisions they had made on previous projects have saved a substantial number of man-hours leading to improved profits. They rely on their experience-based knowledge to make day-to-day decisions in the field. The knowledge is mostly tacit in nature which is internalized over the course of experience and when asked, the supervisors are unable to codify or articulate it replicable in words. Many construction firms are incorporating knowledge management practices but still, the tacit dimension is relatively unexplored in the literature. Organizations are seeing the tacit dimension as a great competitive advantage due to its relative immobile nature. Employee retirements and knowledge loss are compelling construction firms to capture these know-hows to prepare the future workforce. The first step towards harnessing tacit knowledge is to identify it in practice. This study posits a tacit knowledge measure and identifies barriers to knowledge sharing through case studies involving specialty contactors. Findings show a clear relation between experience and tacit knowledge acquisition. Lack of time and formal procedures, and managers’ reluctance to change are identified as the key barriers to knowledge sharing. Organizations can implement the proposed methodology framework and instrument to strengthen existing knowledge harnessing strategies.

Tacit Knowledge Sharing for System Integration

Sharing of tacit knowledge is a key topic of research within the knowledge management community. Considering its embodied nature, organizations have always struggled with embedding it into their processes. Proper execution of complex processes such as system integration asks for an adequate sharing of tacit knowledge. Acknowledging the importance of lessons learned for system integration and their presence in tacit and explicit form, a case study was conducted within the Netherlands Railways. It was determined that non-sensitivity to the tacit dimension of lessons learned has resulted in their lack of utilization. Consequently, LEAF framework was developed, where LEAF stands for learnability, embraceability, applicability, and findability. The framework suggests that addressing these four features collectively can eventually lead to an adequate knowledge-sharing strategy for lessons learned. Lastly, the chapter presents an example from the Netherlands Railways to emphasize the key role technological solutions of Industry 4.0 can play in facilitating tacit knowledge sharing.

Evaluation of Self-Reflection Training to Uncover Tacit Knowledge in a Learning Organization

By working in different projects and different teams over years, employees acquire tacit knowledge unconsciously. It is represented through experiences and is intangible. This knowledge is embodied in our routines. Therefore, it is difficult to verbalize tacit knowledge. This paper introduces a practical approach for companies to use their tacit knowledge in order to become a learning organization. The results of a semi-standardized face-to-face-interview survey with participants (n=10) show to what extent a self-reflection can contribute to uncover and share tacit knowledge in an IT-organization. The answers of the participants were recorded, utilized, coded and analyzed qualitatively. The results show that the intervention can encourage the process of uncovering tacit knowledge. It is possible for the employees to see the past project problems from different perspectives via self-reflection. Thereby they are able to uncover the tacit dimension of their experience and gain new insights.