“Why does tribal knowledge hold back your company's growth?”
Tribal knowledge holds back growth because all the knowledge sits in the heads of a few people: if they drop out, half the company grinds to a halt. Companies that grow from 20 to 100 employees capture that knowledge in systems instead of just hiring more people.
Transcript: Why does tribal knowledge hold back your company's growth?
Waarom groeit het ene bedrijf van 20 man naar 100 in een jaar en blijft het andere, misschien wel dat van jou, hangen op hetzelfde aantal? Spoiler alert, je ziet het niet, maar het is wel je eigen schuld. De meeste bedrijven willen groeien door meer mensen aan te nemen, meer marketingbudget te spenderen en harder te lopen met sales.
Maar de bedrijven die wel doorschieten, investeren juist in systemen. Want zonder dat je het doorhebt, remt je eigen systeem de groei af. Je herkent het namelijk aan twee symptomen.
Eén, shadow IT. Mensen bouwen hun eigen excels en werkwijzers om je systemen heen. En jij verliest het overzicht.
Ten tweede, tribal knowledge. Alle kennis zit in de hoofden van een paar mensen. Vallen ze weg, dan valt het halve bedrijf stil.
Dus herken je nou een van deze twee? Dan ben je nog niet klaar om te groeien. Maar heb je wel deze groeiambitie en ben je benieuwd waar systemen jouw groei tegenhouden?
Dan heb ik een volledige checklist voor je klaar liggen die laat zien waar je vastloopt, wat de risico's zijn en hoe je dat oplost. Stuur mij een bericht, dan krijg je een wandel.
How do you get knowledge out of people's heads and into systems?
Tribal knowledge rarely comes alone. It usually goes hand in hand with shadow IT: employees build their own Excel files and ways of working around the official systems. Both symptoms show the same thing: the system does not support the work, so people work around it. Growth first calls for three steps: mapping where knowledge sits with a single person, naming the risks per process and capturing that knowledge in the system where the work happens.
Who is your single point of failure?
For each core process, ask: what grinds to a halt if this one person is out for two weeks? Every process where the answer is "half the company" is a brake on growth.
Why doesn't hiring more people work?
New employees depend on the same few knowledge holders. As a result, the bottleneck grows with every new hire instead of shrinking.
What does shadow IT say about knowledge?
Personal Excel files and work instructions are tribal knowledge on paper: the knowledge sits outside the system. You lose the overview and the knowledge stays tied to individuals.
You don't see it, but it is your own fault.
Frequently asked questions on this topic
What is tribal knowledge?
Tribal knowledge is knowledge that exists only in the heads of a few employees and is not recorded anywhere in systems or documentation. It covers how processes really run, the exceptions and customer details. If these people drop out through leaving, illness or holidays, a large part of the organisation grinds to a halt. That makes it a direct business risk and a brake on growth.
What is the difference between tribal knowledge and shadow IT?
Tribal knowledge is knowledge held by individuals. Shadow IT is the personal Excel files, tools and work instructions that employees build around the official systems. Both are symptoms of the same problem: the central system does not support the work well enough. Shadow IT often makes tribal knowledge worse, because the knowledge then sits in files that only their creator understands.
How can you tell that systems are holding back your growth?
There are two clear signals. First, employees work with their own spreadsheets and methods alongside the official systems, so management loses the overview. Second, critical processes depend on a few people. If either of these signals sounds familiar, the organisation is not yet ready to scale. Growth will then only amplify the existing bottlenecks.
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Why does tribal knowledge hold back your company's growth?
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