WHAT DO YOU KNOW?  

 

A term that is frequently used to describe economic activity (i.e., business) in the US and other developed countries is "Knowledge Economy." Knowledge is the potential to apply information for some purpose and represents the intellectual framework supporting a person's performance.

 

Unlike in underdeveloped and developing countries, the key component of a knowledge economy is a greater reliance on intellectual capabilities of workers than on physical inputs or natural resources. In a knowledge economy, a significant part of a company's value usually consists of intangible assets, such as the value of its workers' knowledge, often referred to as intellectual capital.

 

Organizational Knowledge  

 

Knowledge is the most important asset today for organizations large or small. Translating knowledge into innovation for the purposes of achieving economic growth and social well-being has become the principal focus for many organizations. Additionally, there has been an ever-increasing demand on organizations to use knowledge to satisfy customer needs. Successful organizations in today's business environment are knowledge-generating entities or "learning organizations" in the language of Peter Senge's Fifth Discipline.

 

Being a learning organization offers a tremendous competitive advantage because while it is often not difficult for new products and services to be copied, it is much more difficult for competitors to duplicate the management systems, knowledge base and organizational environments that consistently generate innovative products and services.

 

As a result companies and institutions have developed management functions to establish and maintain organizational knowledge in order to effectively position themselves to compete in the new knowledge economy. These management functions focus on expertise relating to business strategy, vision and mission, and processes which constitute the internal knowledge structure of an organization. When new people enter an organization, the internal knowledge structure provides the resources for helping to get them up to speed and for providing job support. It is intended to compliment and grow the competencies (knowledge, skills, attitudes and attributes) that individuals employees bring with them to an organization.

 

However, unlike employee competencies such as accounting skills, legal expertise, sales and marketing skills, technical skills and subject matter expertise that usually exist solely within the individual worker and go with the worker when he or she leaves either for the day or permanently, the internal knowledge structure belongs to the organization and remains with it when people go home or leave the organization entirely. It is the organizational knowledge that while created by people, resides within an organization for the benefit of the organization long after the original creators have moved on. Examples of elements of an internal knowledge structure can include proprietary technology, patents, trademarks, copyrights, research capability, specialized processes, training expertise and other specialized knowledge.

 

Taken together, all of an organization's knowledge or intellectual assets, both organizational and individual, are often characterized as its intellectual capital. Intellectual capital is knowledge that an organization can exploit for business purposes and is usually organized and administered within some form of knowledge management system. These assets are often called intangible assets because they have no physical existence, like buildings, equipment and product inventories and because generally accepted accounting principles usually do not allow companies to include these assets on a balance sheet. 

  

Tacit vs. Explicit Knowledge   

     

As a long time professional trainer, a significant issue I've experienced over the years is that managers, trainees and other stakeholders often don't fully appreciate the different types of knowledge that people possess and how organizations can effectively create and apply it.

 

An important concept in knowledge management is the distinction between tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge. Explicit knowledge is formal knowledge that can be put into words and written down, stored on a database and easily shared with others. It is knowledge that can be transmitted in face-to-face communication, through manuals and through electronic media. It is hard and fast and easy to understand with little room for nuance or personal interpretation.

 

A selling skills training program based on a specific sales model is an example of explicit knowledge. Each component or step in the selling process can be clearly defined and described, and it would be fairly easy for a learner to adopt and apply the elements of the program. The training program could be implemented throughout an organization, and it would be reasonable to believe that the training content would be adopted in a uniform and consistent manner by all learners who were exposed to it. Another name for explicit knowledge is rational knowledge.

 

Tacit knowledge (also known as intuitive knowledge) is informal knowledge that one acquires on the job or in everyday situations rather than through formal instruction. It is practical know-how that one gains on his or her own and is usually difficult to put into words or define even by those who possess and exhibit the knowledge. It is usually unspoken and conveyed in an indirect manner and does not easily lend itself to be shared through traditional training programs. A selling skills program for example, cannot teach a salesperson the correct way to respond to a particular customer's demeanor or attitude, or convey the most appropriate time or manner for closing the sale for each customer the salesperson encounters.

 

Tacit knowledge and skills are gained largely subconsciously over time through observation and trial and error, and the possessor of such knowledge is usually not even aware of exactly what the knowledge consists of or how to explain it. We would, therefore, characterize such an individual as being non-consciously competent. We could contrast this with the knowledge and skill of a surgeon who knows exactly the specific steps that must be employed in a particular surgical procedure and can clearly explain and demonstrate them to a medical student. We would say the surgeon is consciously competent because he is acutely aware of what he knows and can explain it.

 

Capturing and Transferring Tacit Knowledge

 

Because it is so elusive, tacit knowledge is very difficult if not impossible to train. However, most workers in an organization usually possess some level of tacit knowledge, the application of which is usually of significant benefit to the organization. Unfortunately, it usually remains with those who possess and use it, and essentially walks out the door when these people leave an organization. While tacit knowledge cannot be trained like explicit knowledge, knowledge management initiatives such as teams, mentoring, partnering, knowledge mapping and other initiatives can be very effective techniques that can be employed to help capture, translate and transfer it within an organization.

 

Organizational effectiveness grows when people within an organization understand the differences between explicit and tacit knowledge and implement appropriate initiative to effectively leverage both.

 

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YOUR PERSUASIVE EDGE   

 

People often associate the topic of persuasion primarily with the concept of selling, but the importance of effective persuasion skills really pertains to every one of us regardless of our individual vocation. Every day each of us is involved to some degree in influencing the thoughts and actions of others. In fact, the path to success in life lies to a very large extent in gaining the cooperation of others. In this edition of Insights, we continue with our ongoing segment dedicated to the topic of persuasion.

 

Persuade with Sincerity 

 

   

   

The well-known motivational speaker Zig Ziglar is famous for the phrase "They don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." This is especially important when it comes to trying to influence the thoughts and actions of other people. To be persuasive, one needs to be believed, and key to being believed is to be perceived as being sincere in expressing your thoughts and feelings.

 

To be sincere is to be honest, authentic and open in communicating our thoughts. Projecting sincerity involves expressing genuine empathy, curiosity and goodwill toward others through our words and actions. Sincerity is the foundation on which rapport is built. We can be technically skilled at speaking and behaving in ways that generate rapport, but if we deep down don't sincerely care about those we seek to persuade, our efforts will likely be unproductive. People are usually very good at sensing whether or not we are sincere. Something in their gut (or their intuition) will tell them whether to trust us or turn us off, and like most first impressions, it can happen in an instant, even before they are consciously aware.

 

A person who is sincere easily develops trust with his coworkers because he is open and honest even in admitting weakness or vulnerability. In fact, in doing so, his credibility is greatly enhanced. Because we all know that no one has all the answers, anyone pretending that he does actually loses credibility because we know he isn't sincere.

 

Sincerity Comes From the Heart

 

Whatever you do or say, it is vital to mean it and back it up with your actions. Sincerity is about just being rather than trying to project something that you are not. You cannot be sincere if you say you like chocolate when you hate it. You cannot be sincere when you compliment someone but deep inside you really detest the person. You cannot be sincere when you apologize just because you want to disarm or appease someone you have offended just to try to get back in their good graces.

 

Do things out of the goodness of your heart; don't seek a reward or do things just to generate a desired response from others. When we give without expecting a pay-back, our giving exhibits sincerity and an expression of our genuine concern for and interest in others.

 

Don't over-polish things.

 

Sincerity is about immediacy, spontaneity and spur-of-the moment responses that well up from your genuine self. Polishing responses (whether by e-mail, speech, letter or otherwise) often removes sincerity and replaces it with a blanket of caution, attempted perfectionism and maybe even sugar-coating. The distinction is detectable and can mean the difference between you getting important commitment from a co-worker, getting that job you want or simply gaining that understanding you desire from another person. 

 

Be Authentic.

 

Be the real you. This is the person that people need to warm to and trust. Because every person is different, people sometimes try to assume a specific character, display certain attitudes, or pretend to advocate particular viewpoints when they are with different people. This rarely conveys sincerity. Avoid adopting an artificial style or using affected mannerisms to try to be a person you think other people want you to be. Not only will you not impress people, but you will be spending a lot of time projecting a persona that is fake and unnatural. Furthermore, such behavior can make a person come across as distant, pretentious and ultimately, insincere. Knowing that a person is attempting to conceal his or her genuine personality and is exhibiting fabricated mannerisms, can cause feelings of uneasiness and distrust in other people.

 

Some of us in the corporate world sometimes adopt a put-on/ can-do attitude that includes fawning and posturing, but such office fakery, over time, begins to feel forced, and there's nothing like feigned feelings displayed forty hours a week to make us feel stressed about our job. That's not to say that we should express every thought that comes into our head, but it's surprising how inspiring a dose of sincerity can be. Effective sincerity in the workplace means apologizing when we've made a mistake and you know it, complimenting a colleague when we really mean it, and being honest about our strengths and weaknesses.

 

Show both sides 

 

Nothing is really ever 100%. There are almost always two sides to every issue. When persuading others, present both the pros and cons of your ideas, as doing so will make you seem fair and reasonable which will significantly increase others perceptions of your sincerity. The trick here is to emphasize the pros and underplay the cons. Explain why the cons aren't so bad, or how the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Never lie about the cons because if and when people find out about your deception, they'll resent you. And they will never trust you again.

 

Adjust your Mindset

 

Here's the thing about sincerity: we really can't fake it. We've either got it or we haven't. In order to demonstrate true sincerity we have to uncover aspects about the situations we face that we can genuinely become sincere about. If we are trying to persuade someone to help us on a project, for example, we've got to find something about the person's assistance and cooperation that we honestly believe will also benefit him or her. If we are trying to sell someone something, we need to identify some important benefit of what we're selling that we honestly believe will help the prospect and will provide true customer value. In other words, we need to find reasons for what we want others to do that will be completely worthy and ethical. This then will give us the mental and emotional mindset to make us genuinely sincere in our persuasive efforts.

 

 

 

Ask us a question about persuasiveness. 

 

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