Socialization (Tacit → Tacit)
A mode of knowledge conversion that creates tacit knowledge through shared experience.
Socialization is how apprentices learn from masters, not through language, but through observation, imitation, and practice. On-the-job training uses the same principle. The key is experience: without shared experience, it is extremely difficult for people to share each other’s thinking processes.
Examples:
- Apprenticeship in crafts
- On-the-job training in business settings
- “Brainstorming camps” where team members live together and share experiences
- Customer interaction where tacit knowledge about needs is acquired through direct contact
Socialization creates sympathized knowledge (shared mental models and technical skills. However, because the knowledge remains tacit, it is hard to leverage organizationally. Pure socialization has limited “sharability” (knowledge created this way may be difficult to apply beyond the specific context in which it was created.
Related: 06-molecule—seci-framework, 06-atom—tacit-knowledge-definition, 06-atom—externalization-mode