A form of non-verbalized knowledge gained through experience and practice, tacit knowledge is something that most fail to realize over the course of their career. It will give more clarity to what it is by looking at the examples of tacit knowledge

Be it a healthcare professional, an advocate practicing law, a researcher in the field of life sciences, not many acknowledge the knowledge that they have acquired tacitly.

In fact, it’s quite interesting to note that many experts hardly comprehend what a Tacit Knowledge could encompass in order to leverage on it.

Let us understand what Tacit Knowledge is all about with some interesting examples of tacit knowledge you gain in the course of your career (irrespective of what field you belong to).

Defining Tacit Knowledge

Tacit knowledge is defined as that form of knowledge, that is gained through experience, practice, and innovation, unrecorded, visualized or transferred from one person to another.

In recent times, Tacit Knowledge has gained prominence over explicit knowledge particularly in the field of knowledge management. Contemporary organizations believe tacit knowledge is born, grown and expunged with a person. Therefore, this form of knowledge transfer is equally important to share and empower like that of explicit knowledge.

6 examples of tacit knowledge that you gain in your career

1. Linguistics

The scientific study of language, its prominence in your field, the ways it’s interpreted in your study –  it’s all a form of tacit knowledge that you gain with practice. However, not many professionals realize that is form of knowledge could be transferred to your counterparts and juniors to understand a study better?

2. Leadership

Social skills such as leadership are classic examples of tacit knowledge. Learnt from management and life experiences, leadership can be difficult to transfer to your fellows by teaching! It extends from experience and traverses along side your skill of observance.

3. Aesthetic Sense

Today, aesthetic sense means a lot more than what it used to. A lot more value has been given to this field apart from art. For instance, aesthetic sense plays an integral role in the user interface, user experience, web design, creative design etc.

The sense to make the web a comprehensive and interesting platform for the public involves dealing with a lot of aesthetic sense. From choosing the right colors to the right designs; aesthetic sense is ingrained in an individual’s sense.

4. Body Language

Body language, an incredibly important form of communication is another form of tacit knowledge interpreted over time and experience. Rather difficult to teach, this form of knowledge can mainly be transferred through communication and observation.

5. Intuition

The ability to understand things without using logic is extremely important to innovation and decision-making. This form of tacit skill is imbibed via experience and exposure to dynamic scenarios.

6. Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability to read and use emotions to influence outcomes. It’s difficult to explicitly teach or express.