A strategy to the top: 5 steps directors can take to harness tacit knowledge

What do I mean by tacit knowledge? To illustrate, here’s a true story:

A young QS, we’ll call him John, joined a national contractor in the 1970s.

He liked all things “techy” and started using personal computers as soon as they appeared.

Throughout the 1980s he did most of his own work on a computer, creating spreadsheets and joining them up into a rudimentary system.

Then his colleagues started using it, and he adapted it to their different needs by adding new functionality.

Over time, it spread and grew until it was the company’s commercial IT system.

John stopped working as a QS and moved to the IT department to look after the beast he’d created.

By 2010, the company was turning over £1bn and he was thinking of retirement.

Suddenly worried, his boss asked him to write a manual for the system so others could manage it.

But John couldn’t. The job of writing down 40 years of accumulated know-how was too big. It might have taken another 40 years!

Why is tacit knowledge important?

What John had was tacit or implied knowledge, built up over years, and difficult to formalise and communicate.

Try writing down how a cyclist achieves and maintains balance!

A company’s explicit knowledge, all the stuff written down in procedures and guidance, is just the tip of the iceberg.

The vast majority of knowledge stored in the people around you is tacit. Construction executives are knowledge workers.

If you’re a director you’ll want to harness that, right? So how?

How to harness the tacit knowledge around you (and make your way to the top)

We all know people who clawed their way to the top by playing politics and avoiding blame.

But the better way is to begin achieving remarkable results by harnessing the true talents of your team, including its tacit knowledge.

So, start with yourself and work outwards:

1. Stop rushing around fighting fires and fixing other people’s problems. It’s not good for you, your people, or your prospects. Instead, carve out time and headspace to start doing what you’re paid to do. (See point 2)
2. Articulate the vision and purpose of your team, department, project or organisation. “Vision” means where you’re all going, and “Purpose” means why you’re all here. Don’t assume this is obvious to everybody. It isn’t, and it needs to be. Think it up and communicate it. The job of a director is to set the direction, not direct everyone’s work.
3. Having set the direction, let your people get on with it. Remember, they were right for the job when you hired them, and they still are. You’re paying them well to know what to do and, deep down, tacitly, they do. Watch what they do and be inspired by it.
4. Get an exceptional second-in-command, and give them lots of support and lots of challenge. More on this here Nice and Nasty . Your second-in-command is there to free you up, share the burden and become your trusted advisor.
5. Work on your team. Pay attention to its functioning, and help it function better. It’s not enough just to assemble the players and hope they gel. They won’t do that themselves because they’re busy with their own jobs.

What does a construction company consist of, really? It’s not machinery, or labour, or intellectual property, or a physical location.

It’s people, their good will and their knowledge. Harnessing that is the organisational differentiator or route to the top for the aspiring CEO.

We enable executive teams to come together and deliver big results. Our popular one-day and half-day sessions are a great place to get started. Check out the Discovery Day.