Tacit knowledge
Howard Lake | 6 October 2008 | Blogs
I’ve been thinking about networking recently, and how important it tends to be to the fundraising community. The process is also something that The King’s Fund wants to help develop as one of the projects I’m fundraising for, and this has given me greater insight into what happens when we have a chat over a glass of wine at a networking event.
Part of the wider context is about ‘tacit knowledge’, defined as something that people know but don’t realise they know, or that their knowledge is valuable. In the science of social networking [which isn’t logging onto facebook wearing a white coat], finding ways to extract tacit knowledge can be a goldmine. At a corporate level, there is an example of Toyota car production, which relied on a brake part, made at a Chinese factory that burnt to the ground. Not having this part delivered under ‘just in time’ systems meant the whole production plant would run to a standstill. In one week, production was up and running through tapping into the tacit knowledge of the factory staff, and applying that knowledge. As it happened, a lip-stick factory was retooled to produce the brake part!
What has this to do with fundraising or improving health care through The King’s Fund for that matter? We all have knowledge, some of which could be really valuable to other people. Finding ways to download that knowledge and pass it on can help make a real difference. For me I’m looking for funding to help midwives across England share and learn from best practice to improve safety in maternity units. For fundraising in general, it is often about getting people together in a relaxed environment where information can be shared, connections made, business cards given and introductions initiated. On Thursday I was at the IoF London Region’s First Thursday Fundraisers’ Club where 50 or so fundraisers did just that. It was simple, low-key, effective and valuable. Well worth signing up to the next one, or setting up something similar in a hostelry near you.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.