The Inquiring Organization: Tacit Knowledge, Conversation, and Knowledge Creation: Skills for 21st-Century Organizations

by Catherine Kikoski, John Kikoski

Overview

This book provides the context and tools to create knowledge via a proven process of inquiry, questions, and conversation. It introduces the theoretical background to explain why, as well as the practical hands-on skills and processes to demonstrate how, to surface tacit knowledge—that which we know but which we have not yet made explicit in conversation, e.g., background, education, and experience—and create new knowledge in collaboration with colleagues.

In the information economy, knowledge is an asset and a currency. The creation of new knowledge, therefore, enhances an organization's position in the marketplace. How do we create new knowledge? We don't do it by learning what is already known. The learning organization is already passé. Instead, we do it by inquirinq, which is a method of bringing tacit knowledge to the forefront of awareneness. The inquiring organization surfaces tacit knowledge, which is what its employees bring to the table—their background, education, experience, character, and judgment—and transforms that knowledge into new, explicit knowledge that can be transferred from one employee to another through conversation. That is true knowledge creation, and this book provides the tools, skills, techniques, and processes for executives and professionals in any field to accomplish this task in today's fluid environment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781567204902
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	07/30/2004
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.42(w) x 9.58(h) x 0.85(d)

About the Author

CATHERINE KANO KIKOSKI is Professor and Chair of the Graduate Department of Marriage and Family Therapy at Saint Joseph College in West Hartford, Connecticut. A licensed psychologist and family therapist, she has almost 25 years of experience in researching, publishing, teaching, and training professionals in the field of interpersonal communication as well as organizational behavior.

JOHN F. KIKOSKI is Professor of Political Science and Public Administration at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. He is a past president of the Section on Professional Organization and Development of the American Society for Public Administration.

Table of Contents

Preface
Two Management Traditions and Knowledge Creation: From Modern to Post-Modern Management
Theories of Communication in Management: Modern to Postmodern
Tacit Knowledge
The Pragmatics of Knowledge Creation: Care, Respect and Trust
The Microskills for Knowledge Creation
Asking Questions: Widening the Lens, Sharpening the Focus
Tacit Knowledge and Conversation
Reflecting Conversations
The Compass and the Map