Explicit knowledge is not completely separate from tacit knowledge. On the other hand, the two are mutually complementary. Without tacit knowledge it will be difficult, if not impossible, to understand explicit knowledge. For
example, a person without technical, mathematical or scientific knowledge (tacit knowledge) will have great difficulty understanding a highly complex mathematical formulation or chemical process flow diagram, although it may be
readily available from the organization’s library or databases (explicit knowledge).
And unless we try to convert tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge, we cannot
redirect upon it, study and discuss it, and share it within the organization – since it
will remain hidden and inaccessible inside the head of the person that has it.