Tacit Knowledge

Tacit knowledge is knowledge that cannot be fully articulated, codified, or transmitted through explicit instruction — the know-how, intuition, and contextual judgment that experienced practitioners possess but cannot readily explain. The concept originates with Michael Polanyi, who argued that "we can know more than we can tell": a scientist knows how to design a good experiment, a craftsperson knows how to shape material by feel, and a physician knows when a patient's presentation is abnormal before tests confirm it, all without being able to specify the exact rules underlying their competence. Tacit knowledge is not hidden explicit knowledge waiting to be extracted. It is a distinct epistemic category, embodied in practice rather than propositions, and learned through apprenticeship, imitation, and shared experience rather than formal training.

In institutional memory, tacit knowledge is the most valuable and the most perishable component: it leaves when its carriers leave, and no document can replace it. The attempt to render tacit knowledge explicit — through documentation, process engineering, or knowledge management systems — often destroys the very competence it seeks to preserve, replacing situated judgment with rule-following that fails when contexts shift.