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The Dilemma of Developing and Maintaining High-Level Expertise

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Managing Knowledge in Organizations

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Abstract

In this chapter, mètis is first presented as being both an entity (expert know-how) and a dynamic phenomenon (expert action). Tacit knowledge is then reviewed, not only as an important aspect of mètis, but in defining what it is and what it isn’t. It is argued that purely repository approaches based on words and code cannot fully explicate (nor ‘convert’) or address the inherent ineffability of tacit knowledge. Managers must grasp that a person cannot learn another’s tacit knowledge by way of only using an IT/KS repository of explicit knowledge. A novice seeking to appreciate an expert’s tacit knowledge must also immerse himself/herself within the activity or practice in question. Paradoxically, across increased task automation in combination with the growing use of expert system prompts, there is less hands-on practice and training occurring within the workplace; thus, leading to a loss of expertise (mètis) able to adequately deal with new, complex and ambiguous situations—situations which expert or automated systems are unable to successfully address alone. Finally, preliminary insights are proposed regarding more effective organizational configurations able to retain expert tacit knowledge while encouraging the evolution of mètis.

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  1. University of Quebec at Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    W. David Holford

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Correspondence to W. David Holford .

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Holford, W.D. (2020). The Dilemma of Developing and Maintaining High-Level Expertise. In: Managing Knowledge in Organizations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41156-5_3

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