Tapping Into Tribal Knowledge

Had not heard the term 'Tribal Knowledge'.   But OK, call it key internal strategic and operational knowledge within a company, from its own internal experts, external sources, written documents, external consulting and beyond.   And effectively leveraging that knowledge against company problems.  A key to a digital company?

  We explored the idea using methods like Wikis and rule based systems in the 90s, Interviewing retiring experts, Intranet search, Knowledge Management, Semantic networks linking to data and beyond.

Each had its own positives and negatives.   How can this be done better with cognitive methods.?    Below a interesting example.  I Like the thoughts, but how does it work in practice?    How is the knowledge assembled and maintained for use?

Saving and Sharing Tribal Knowledge with Watson

Woodside, Australia’s largest independent energy company has been a global leader in oil and gas for over half a century. Their secret? Hire and develop heroes.

This formula has helped Woodside build some of the largest structures on the planet, in some of the most remote parts of the ocean, and safely transport the energy they produce to people around the globe.

To ensure the next generation could successfully carry the torch, Woodside knew they had to harness the instinctual know-how of their best employees. This goal — to create a cognitive business to augment and share their tribal knowledge — is what led Woodside into an industry-first partnership with IBM and Watson. .... "