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70 Chapter 3

Knowledge Spiral Knowledge creation is not a sequential process, but depends on a
continuous and dynamic interaction between tacit and explicit knowledge throughout
the four quadrants. Organizations articulate, organize, and systematize individual tacit
knowledge, produce and develop tools, structures, and models to accumulate it and
share it to create new knowledge through the knowledge spiral as illustrated in fi gure
3.2 . The knowledge spiral is a continuous activity of knowledge fl ow, sharing, and
conversion by individuals, communities, and the organization itself.
The two steps that are the most diffi cult are those involving a change in the type
of knowledge, namely, externalization, which converts tacit into explicit knowledge,
and internalization, which converts explicit knowledge into tacit. These two steps
require a high degree of personal commitment and they will typically involve mental
models, personal beliefs, and values, and a process of reinventing oneself, one ’ s group,
and the organization as a whole. A metaphor is a good way of expressing this “ inex-
pressible ” content. For example, a slogan, a story, an analogy, or a symbol of some
type can encapsulate complex contextual meanings. A metaphor is often used to
convey two ideas in a single phrase and may be defi ned as a phrase that “ accomplishes
in a word or phrase what could otherwise be expressed only in many words, if at all ”
( Sommer and Weiss 1995 , vii). All of these vehicles are good models to represent a
consistent, systematic, and logical understanding of content without any contradic-
tions. The better and the more coherent the model, and the better the model fi ts with
existing mental models, the higher the likelihood of successful implementation of a
knowledge spiral.

Dialogue
Socialization Externalization

Linking
Field building explicit
knowledge

Internalization Combination
Learning by doing

Figure 3.2
The Nonaka and Takeuchi knowledge spiral