Essay on
The Knowledge-creating company
by Ikujiro Nonaka
I chose this book because I was looking for a different perspective on successful companies. This book explores how companies in Japan create an environment supporting innovation and creativity. I was expecting something very different compared to the usual “western oriented” book on successful companies. The authors explore four different modes of knowledge creation in companies. These modes, socialization, externalization, combination and internalization, allow people to create and share knowledge together. I have been very intrigued also because the Team Academy environment is based on creating knowledge together and growing together.
Socialization is the first mode of knowledge conversion and involves the sharing of tacit knowledge (knowledge not easily transferred, often intuitive and based on personal skillsú through direct personal interaction. This is often facilitated by informal interactions between people within a company, such as through apprenticeships, mentorship programs, or informal conversations. By sharing their tacit knowledge, people can learn from one another and develop new skills and competencies.
Externalization, the second mode of knowledge conversion, involves the articulation of tacit knowledge into explicit forms. This is often created with tools and techniques that enable people to externalize their tacit knowledge. These tools include storytelling, analogy, metaphor and visual images. By externalizing their tacit knowledge, people can communicate it to others and make it possible for others to understand their knowledge in innovative ways.
Combination is the third mode of knowledge conversion. It involves the integration of different types of explicit knowledge. That often means the use of IT and other tools that enable individuals to access and organize different types of explicit knowledge. By combining different types of explicit knowledge, people can create new knowledge and develop innovative solutions to organizational problems.
Internalization is the fourth mode of knowledge conversion. It is the incorporation of explicit knowledge into tacit knowledge. This is often manifested with personal experience, reflection, and practice. By incorporating explicit knowledge into someone’s own tacit knowledge, people develop new skills and competencies and apply their knowledge in new innovative ways.
These four modes of knowledge conversion are interconnected and complementary. They enable people in organizations to create and apply their knowledge. Thanks to these modes companies can create systems for their own devices environment in order to create and apply knowledge as effectively as possible.
I think understanding these modes helped me think about how knowledge is created and shared in different organizations I am a part of. I believe that this should be systematically approached in all companies and in smaller scale projects as well. I definitely think that this is a huge part of company’s culture and the purpose behind knowledge sharing needs to shared within a company. In my next opportunity I would like to give this a bit more importance and focus on how can we learn together within a project as much as we can in a way we truly find meaningful.
