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  • 1.  *all mentors and mentees in Resolution Institute's mentoring programme: The How-to of mentoris and mentees

    Gold Member
    Posted 07-07-2021 03:57 PM

     

    Mentor, mentorship, mentee

    Part 1: Tacit knowledge transfer

    David Mitchell 

    History attributes mentorship to Odysseus' friend, Mentor, appointed to look after Odysseus' son Telemachus whilst he went off to war and took twenty years to come back home. Some would claim it started with the craft guilds of the Middle Ages wherein a master-apprentice relationship required up to ten years to complete1

    Most credence is given to Francois Fenelon's 1699 book, Adventures de Telemaquerst, where the currently accepted guidelines and description of mentors were first promulgated: "as counsellor, teacher, nurturer, protector, advisor and role model" 2. The skills and knowledge were (and still are), expected, over time, to be transferred from teacher/mentor to the learner. However, this has never been a straight-forward process. Successful mentorship requires specific, non-intuitive, emotional, intellectual, sociological and inter-relational skills.

    Aristotle had taught that a successful teacher-student relationship (mentorship) required a person to learn from a more experienced, like-minded, and inspirational teacher imbued with the intellectual virtues of practical wisdom, nous, technical skills, and scientific intelligence. 3

    Polanyi, the father of Knowledge, divided knowledge into two forms: Explicit and Tacit4. Others have suggested there is a third stage, between explicit and tacit knowledge, called implicit knowledge. It is likely this model represents a spectrum rather than a static system5

     

     

     

    • Andy Roberts 1999. Homer's Mentor: Duties Fulfilled or Misconstrued. Hist Educ Soc Bull. 1999; 64:313–29. Available in nickols.us/homers_mentor.pdf.
    • Alberto R. Ferreres 2018. Brief History of Mentorship in C. R. Scoggins et al. (eds.), Surgical Mentorship and

    Leadership, Success in Academic Surgery, Chapter 1: downloaded from   https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71132-4_1

    • David Hoinski and Ronald Polansky. The Modern Aristotle: Michael Polanyi's Search for Truth against Nihilism in Contemporary Encounters with Ancient Metaphysics

    Eds Abraham Jacob Greenstine and Ryan J. Johnson. Published by: Edinburgh University Press. Downloaded

    19/06/2021 from 

    https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctt1g050w8.15

    • Stephen Temple, A Beginner's Mind: Proceedings of the 21st National Conference on the Beginning Design Student edited and compiled by Stephen Temple.
    • Panahi, Sirous, Watson, Jason, & Partridge, Helen. 2012) Social media and tacit knowledge sharing:

    Developing a conceptual model. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, 64, pp. 1095- 1102. Downloaded 19/06/2021 from: https://eprints.qut.edu.au/50068/.  

     

    Explicit knowledge

    This is knowledge that can be explained, heard, read about in books, articles, journals, guidebooks, and manuals and extracted from computers. It can be copied, taught and learnt by imitation and practice (see table 1). It can never elicit the unique skills, habits, intuition, nous or masterly essence of a mentor.

    This is called knowledge transfer of known knowns: what is known can be shared.

    Implicit knowledge

    Implicit knowledge is knowledge that can be applied. It is a skill or technique of doing that can be learnt (or transferred) from person to person. However, it can knowingly be withheld by the expert/specialist because of dislike, distrust, jealousy, or if the mentee is seen to be unready; to personal/intellectual license, because it is secret or part of the 'glass-ceiling culture' in an organisation. This is called non-transference of the 'unknown knowns': The knowledge is withheld (thus is unknown to the mentee) but known to the mentor.

    Tacit knowledge

    'For Polanyi, all explicit knowledge depends upon tacit knowledge, which entails that we know more than we can say'6

    Tacit knowledge cannot be verbalised, explained, written down or illustrated. It exists within a mentor's unconscious mind. The carrier does not even know they have this information and cannot make sense of it to anyone else. It is the realm of the 'unknown unknowns'(see Table 1)7

     '…. the preponderance of PowerPoint slides, web sites of best practices, repositories of project reports, online training, or even in-person lectures for the goal of transferring this (tacit) knowledge is largely a losing set of strategies.'8

    Tacit knowledge cannot be transferred via any of these methods. Explicit knowledge is all about 'what to do', tacit knowledge contains the 'how to do'.

     

    • David Hoinski and Ronald Polansky. The Modern Aristotle: Michael Polanyi's Search for Truth against Nihilism in Contemporary Encounters with Ancient Metaphysics

    Eds Abraham Jacob Greenstine and Ryan J. Johnson. Published by: Edinburgh University Press. Downloaded

    19/06/2021 from https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctt1g050w8.15

     

    • Panahi, Sirous, Watson, Jason, & Partridge, Helen (2012) Social Media and Tacit Knowledge Sharing: Developing a Conceptual Model. In World

    Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology (WASET), Paris, France, pp. 1095-1102.

    downloaded 19/06/2021 from: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/50068/

    • Stephen Temple, A Beginner's Mind: Proceedings of the 21st National Conference on the Beginning Design

    Student . edited and compiled by Stephen Temple. Downloaded 19/06/2021 from http://ncbds.laab.com/21_Proceedings.pdf

     

    Tacit knowledge is in the realm that both mentor and mentee need to metaphorically dwell within to allow this unique, mentor-acquired and developed practical wisdom and knowledge to be transferred, to be shared.

    Awareness of the value and financial and/or intellectual success dependent upon the tacit knowledge of a person who is an expert, specialist, teacher, writer etc), within a group (club, society, college), a business, an organisation or a political structure has created the knowledge management (KM) industry. There are jobs for knowledge brokers, knowledge champions, knowledge managers, knowledge asset managers, knowledge analysts, knowledge engineers, knowledge architects and chief knowledge officers. This spawning industry has been aided by the concomitant development of artificial intelligence systems, knowledge databases, the internet and its extension into communities of practice (CoP). KM has also become an integral component of education systems: teaching teachers to teach not just by rote learning and repetitive practice systems but also by transferring their tacit knowledge to others.

     

                                                 Knowledge can be

                                                 Explicit …  known knowns

                                                 Implicit … known unknowns

                                                 Tacit … unknown unknowns

     

     

    Table 1. Comparison between tacit and explicit knowledge. Taken from Panahi, Sirous, Watson, Jason, & Partridge, Helen (2012) Social Media and Tacit Knowledge Sharing: Developing a Conceptual Model  

     

    Tacit knowledge can be transferred

    Tacit knowledge can be transferred from person (e.g., mentor) to person (e.g., mentee). Tacit knowledge is stored in the brain as symbols and words, not as a

    detailed script. To transfer these concepts requires an informal, conjoined discourse between mentor and mentee wherein a word or phrase is uttered that resonates with the mentee and provides the missing piece in an uncompleted jigsaw. The mentor often does not notice the importance of this happening until the mentee cognitively processes the link into a newly created and stored tacit knowledge unit. 

    Panahi[1] specifies five requirements: social interaction, sharing, observation, informal relationship/networking, and mutual trust. Others have added context, narrative, experience repertory, pacing, pre-learning (by mentee), curious questioning by mentee (except for those questions starting with 'why') and willingness to learn. Leonard and Swap[2] espouse their six steps to becoming a tacit knowledge recipient (a 'Deep Smart'). Separately Crane champions the concept of Discursive Psychology (DP) focussing on identity, trust, risk and context.

     

    Dyadic relationship as part of tacit transfer

    A review of the literature[3] suggests that the relationship between the two parties is integral to successful tacit knowledge transfer. A mini-mind map (see Fig.1) shows there are a number of shared factors involved.

     

    Social interaction

     

    Knowledge transfer relies heavily on a comfortable environment/ambience and an accepting interaction between mentor and mentee for a discourse to occur: 'language as an important facilitator and mediator in the accomplishment of  knowledge work'[4] and 'knowledge is constructed and shared in talk'[5]

    However, since only 20% of communication relies on speech, an open social interaction leading to a discourse/conversation, preferably face to face,[6],[7] (which can include a Zoom connection), allows for facial and body language messages to be assimilated. Body language - gestures, movements and expressions, can also be matched (or can convey different messages) to verbal inflections, tones and pitch.


    Fig 1. Relationship drivers for tacit sharing (author's mapping)

    Sharing

     

    Sharing and respecting similar values, respecting the same or different cultures and beliefs increases the bonding between the giver and receiver. Sharing work, words, ideas, metaphors, stories and events can help the recall of hidden knowledge, not as a detailed script but more as a word or phrase that resonates with the mentee and provides the missing piece in an uncompleted puzzle.

    'The key to both formal and informal tacit knowledge transfer is the willingness and capacity of individuals to share what they know and to use what they learn,'16

    Trustworthiness and trust

     

    Each of the mentor-mentee dyad need to trust themselves, trust each other and have a perception of trustworthiness, integrity and reputation in the other. The mentor is taking a risk in giving the knowledge: will it be valued, used wisely and

     

    well? The [8]mentee has to evaluate the information: can I trust this person and his gift, and will it be useful to/for me?[9]

    Mutual understanding

     

    Mentor and mentee need to be on 'the same page', each understanding the importance, relevance, content and context of the shared event. This leads to an open-mindedness that facilitates a knowledge transfer: 'The give-and-take requires an open-mindedness and non-defensive attitude'[10].

    Perry and Vandenabeele19 hint that compassion in the mentor, driving an enhanced altruism to do good for another (in this case, the mentee) may overcome barriers, thus increasing connectedness, understanding and tacit transfer.

    Social influence

     

    Differences in status, power, position, social levels and industry/organisation/interests can affect a discourse and sharing, this often happens at the implicit knowledge level where information is deliberately not shared.

     

    The mentor's role in tacit transfer

    Over and above the shared responsibilities of mentor and mentee, each has a number of separate roles to play (see Fig.2) 

    Mentor's exposition of learnt 'Deep Smarts'[11]

    Activation of the 'unknown unknowns' can start with simple word plays like 'rules of thumb'. As the mentor begins playing with words, rules and numbers, their memory banks begin identifying, collating, rearranging and recoding old tacit memories into coherent then transferrable, explicit knowledge. The brain has been tricked.

    The next step is storytelling, narratives of past experience wherein words, phrases and images carry a number of meanings and triggers to ensnare the mentee and infiltrate their short term or working memory. At this point the mentee's hippocampus looks for similar coded memories, adds these new ideas and images to a folder memory to create a new memory or construct containing parts of the mentor's tacit knowledge. Further cognitive processing will convert this new construct into long term memory. A tacit transfer has occurred.

    Guided problem-solving can open up new ways of thinking, of processing, of working for the mentee. A changed mind-set and removal of blocks caused by inexperience, group think and social constraints can also be removed. The examples and workings can be preserved/stored in long term memory for future use. 

    Fig. 2. Mentor's role in tacit transfer (author's mapping) 

    The use of a mentor's experience repertoire

    A mentor's experience repertoire and practical wisdom can ensure that the pace of learning is adjusted for the mentee. Pauses, breaks, even changes in topics can allow for reconfiguring, for rearranging of thought patterns, and for cognitive processing. Variety can also help such learning.

    Showing how patterns, habits, pastimes and  repetitions form part of everybody's interactions and discourses can lead to an increase in associations that lead to intuitive leaps in knowledge. 

     

    Context is important and requires an experienced mentor to manage it.                 'The absence of context renders knowledge meaningless.  Accordingly, context is not only inseparable from knowledge, it creates and defines it.'[12]

    Discourse, identity, and sense-making

    Discourse, conversation, communication and interaction are conditional on the person or identity that we recognise as the real me (Ricoeur.'s selfhood or core self[13]) and on the projection/ facsimile/avatar of parts of that core self which we want the world to see. Crane discusses this as 'positioning'[14]. This self-as-another varies from one discourse/communication interaction to another. The self-as-another can verify or distort the perceptions, world-view and sense-making of the core selfleading confirmation of the self's worldview or, if unreal, to internal conflicts and external discourse/communication barriers. A mentor, clear headed and balanced mentally and physically has a greater chance of safely acting out of their real or core self to the mentee, increasing the authenticity and the volume of the tacit knowledge transferred.

    The role of the mentee (see fig.3)

    The use of curious questions (except for the 'why' word)

    A curious question (one beginning with what, when, where and how) has a greater chance of changing a mentor's chain of thought, or directing the mentor's narrative and mindset along a different pathway. Temple24 talks of new, unfinished or incomplete constructs (i.e., knowledge) that have virtual 'hooks'; in the blank areas that hook onto appropriate words, pictures or metaphors to complete the pattern (idea). This can increase the access to tacit information and consequent transfer. In contrast Orland-Barak reported that mentors had a better teaching response when being more directive to their mentees[15].

    When a mentee asks a curious question starting with the word 'why', the mentor often pauses, reflects on, and analyses his narrative and begins justifying it. All chances of tacit transfer are shut down. The mentee will need to ask a different question very quickly

    Pre-knowledge

    Pre-reading or discussion is required for new information of a tacit nature to be absorbed and stored.
    '..for someone to capture complex experienced-based knowledge, his or her brain has to contain a sufficient framework, domain knowledge, and/or prior experiences to which new inputs can effectively connect'[16].

    Discourse, identity and sense-making

    The same comments and ideal requirements as described in the mentor's roles apply to the mentee.

    Guided problem solving and guided experimentation 

    A mentee will learn and take part in tacit transfer by actively participating in problem solving and using acquired knowledge (experimenting). This is a definite case of 'use it or lose it'.

    Fig.3. Mentee's role in tacit transfer (author's mapping)

     

    Conclusion
    Mentorship involves a shared respect for mentors willing to share and for mentees grateful for receiving. The 'what to do' (explicit) of mentoring is easy. The 'how to do' (tacit) is more difficult but achievable. The skills, tricks and mind games used to access a mentor's tacit knowledge can be learnt, applied and can be successful. The thrill of a word or phrase or metaphor that flows from mentor to mentee and completes an unfinished jigsaw is a reward in itself. 

     Next month's article: Part 2 of the 'Mentor mentorship mentee' series  by David Mitchell will be
    " Sticky knowledge and Communities of Practice (CoPs)".

     

    If you would like to join Resolution Institute's mentoring programme as a mentor or mentee, please write to david.chin@resolution.institute

     

     

    [1] Panahi ibid 7

    [2] Deep Smarts: How to Cultivate and Transfer Enduring Business Wisdom, Dorothy Leonard &

    Walter Swap, Harvard Business School Publishing, 2005. Reviewed in Jeffrey Harnett "Deep Smarts": A

    Confirmation of Studio-Based Pedagogy and, more particularly, Design/Build. Found in Stephen Temple, A Beginner's Mind: Proceedings of the 21st National Conference on the Beginning Design Student . edited and compiled by Stephen Temple

    [3] Lesley Crane Knowledge and discourse matters. 2015 Ph.D. thesis University of Derby. Downloaded 20/05/2021from http://hdl.handle.net/10545/576843  

    [4] Lesley Crane Knowledge and discourse matters. 2015 Ph.D. thesis University of Derby. Downloaded 20/05/2021from http://hdl.handle.net/10545/576843  

    [5] Crane supra

    [6] Panahi et. al.  ibid.  suggest that a network/internet-based Community of Practice can fulfill the major requirements for Tacit transfer

    [7] Stephen Temple ibid 8

     

    [8] J. Scott Holste  Dail Fields, (2010),"Trust and tacit knowledge sharing and use", Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 14 Iss 1 pp. 128 -140. 

    http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13673271011015615

    [9] J. Scott Holste  supra16

    [10] Tamer Cavusgil, S., Calantone, R. J., & Zhao, Y. (2003). Tacit knowledge transfer and firm innovation capability. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 18(1), 6–21. doi:10.1108/08858620310458615  19James Perry, Wouter Vandenabeele .2015. Public Service Motivation Research: Achievements, Challenges, and Future Directions. Public Administration Review,Vol. 75, Iss. 5, pp. 692–699. © 2015 by The American Society for Public Administration.    DOI: 10.1111/puar.12430.

    [11] Harnett ibid 10

    [12] Lesley Crane Knowledge and discourse matters. 2015 PhD thesis University of Derby. Downloaded

    20/05/2021from http://hdl.handle.net/10545/576843  

    [13] Anon. Paul Ricoeur's Oneself as Another summary downloaded from http://www.angelfire.com/md2/timewarp/ricoeur.html

    [14] Crane ibid 21 24 Temple ibid8

    [15] Lily Orland-Barak (2014) Mediation in mentoring: A synthesis of studies in Teaching and Teacher Education.

    http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2014.07.011  

    [16] Stephen Temple. Ibid 4,8



    ------------------------------
    David Mitchell
    Director
    Mitchell Mediate
    Clarence Park SA
    418898039
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: *all mentors and mentees in Resolution Institute's mentoring programme: The How-to of mentoris and mentees

    I'mLinkedIn
    Posted 07-07-2021 06:13 PM
    Dear David,

    Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this very important topic and programme. I hope that you and your mentee are finding it useful.

    For all mentors and mentees,

    We have over 20 mentor and mentee relationships established in the programme and I hope that they are all going well. Please reach out if you need any further support or resources.

    For the mentees that have registered that have not connecting with a mentor please reach out and let me know how we can help you.

    For all members,

    For any potential mentors and mentees you can review the programme here and enrol. mentoring programme link

    ------------------------------
    David Chin
    Membership Manager
    Resolution Institute
    ------------------------------



  • 3.  RE: *all mentors and mentees in Resolution Institute's mentoring programme: The How-to of mentoris and mentees

    Early Adopter
    Posted 08-07-2021 05:51 PM
    David had provided me with a draft article on the topic of mentoring, recently published in Pulse. I managed to organise a Mediation Today interview with David on the same theme, and he had so much to say.  The episode is going to air this coming Monday 12 July at 10:05am, after the National News, on Community Radio 2xx - Canberra's Oldest Community Radio Station
    2xxfm remove preview
    Community Radio 2xx - Canberra's Oldest Community Radio Station
    2xxfm Home Page
    View this on 2xxfm >





    ------------------------------
    Vesna Cvjeticanin
    NMAS Mediator, LLB, GDLP (ANU)
    Impact Mediation
    Canberra, ACT
    +61 438 482 303
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: *all mentors and mentees in Resolution Institute's mentoring programme: The How-to of mentoris and mentees

    Early Adopter
    Posted 08-07-2021 07:33 PM
    David had provided me with a draft article on the topic of mentoring, recently published in Pulse. I managed to organise a Mediation Today interview with David on the same theme, and he had so much to say.  The episode is going to air this coming Monday 12 July at 10:05am, after the National News, on Community Radio 2xx - Canberra's Oldest Community Radio Station
    2xxfm remove preview
    Community Radio 2xx - Canberra's Oldest Community Radio Station
    2xxfm Home Page
    View this on 2xxfm >





    ------------------------------
    Vesna Cvjeticanin
    NMAS Mediator, LLB, GDLP (ANU)
    Impact Mediation
    Canberra, ACT
    +61 438 482 303
    ------------------------------



  • 5.  RE: *all mentors and mentees in Resolution Institute's mentoring programme: The How-to of mentoris and mentees

    I'mLinkedIn
    Posted 09-07-2021 10:38 AM
    Dear Vesna,

    Thank you for organising the radio slot for David Mitchell's interview on Community radio 2xx. We look forward to tuning in.

    @Amber Williams @Sean Brogan @Amanda Dollman 

    ​​​

    ------------------------------
    David Chin
    Membership Manager
    Resolution Institute
    ------------------------------



  • 6.  RE: *all mentors and mentees in Resolution Institute's mentoring programme: The How-to of mentoris and mentees

    Early Adopter
    Posted 09-07-2021 02:19 PM
    No problems, it was a pleasure!

    Vesna Cvjeticanin

    NMAS Accredited Mediator
    Specialising in Elder Mediation, Estate matters, 
    Associations and Business/partnerships mediation

    +61 438 482 303
    impactmediations@gmail.com

       






  • 7.  RE: *all mentors and mentees in Resolution Institute's mentoring programme: The How-to of mentoris and mentees

    I'mLinkedIn
    Posted 10-07-2021 02:25 AM
    Vesna has been doing a fabulous job with her show - anything we can do to promote it should be done!

    ------------------------------
    Philip Argy
    Principal and CEO
    ArgyStar.com
    Sydney NSW
    pargy@argystar.com
    +612 9719 8521
    ------------------------------



  • 8.  RE: *all mentors and mentees in Resolution Institute's mentoring programme: The How-to of mentoris and mentees

    Early Adopter
    Posted 10-07-2021 08:03 AM
    Hello Philip
    Thank you sincerely for your praise. Means a lot ☆
    Best wishes
    Vesna :)

    Vesna Cvjeticanin

    NMAS Accredited Mediator
    Specialising in Elder Mediation, Estate matters, 
    Associations and Business/partnerships mediation

    +61 438 482 303
    impactmediations@gmail.com