2. Implicit knowledge

Implicit knowledge is, essentially, learned skills or know-how. It is gained by taking explicit knowledge and applying it to a specific situation. If explicit knowledge is a book on the mechanics of flight and a layout diagram of an airplane cockpit, implicit knowledge is what happens when you apply that information in order to fly the plane.

Implicit knowledge is gained when you learn the best way to do something. You can then take that experience and synthesize it with other learned information in order to solve an entirely new problem.

This type of knowledge has traditionally been excluded from formal knowledge bases, as it can be difficult to document and capture in a scalable way. In order to add it to a knowledge base, think of it this way: “What new thing did I learn, would it be useful to others, and how can I explain it?” Here is an example of documented implicit knowledge:

Implicit knowledge examples

While implicit knowledge can be more difficult to document, some examples of implicit knowledge could include an individual’s ability to prioritize tasks or juggle projects to meet deadlines.