Deep Smarts

SEVEN

Transferring Deep Smarts

UP TO THIS POINT, we have examined what constitutes deep smarts, including the social influences that shape and filter knowledge. Now we turn to a major focus of the book: how to transfer deep smarts from those who have them to those who need them. (See figure 7-1.) Knowledge transfer is obviously a process of teaching and learning, but organizations expend tremendous resources ineffectually because managers fail to match expectations and resources to transfer methods. Not all transfer techniques can deliver knowledge (as opposed to information).

The next two chapters explore the role of knowledge coaches—experts called upon to teach relative novices. We call them coaches because we argue that such transfer requires ...