hostile-shorepatrol81 Extract Tacit Knowledge
Core judgment: do not start from theory. Start from performance under real constraints.
Use When
- The user mentions tacit knowledge, implicit know-how, intuition, or "we know more than we can tell"
- The goal is to turn expert judgment into a checklist, decision tree, rubric, or agent behavior
- A team can see good performance but cannot explain what makes it good
Do First
Define the target narrowly:
- one role
- one task
- one high-value situation
- one acceptance standard
If the scope is broad, compress it before doing anything else.
Evidence Standard
Do not abstract too early. Ask for or reconstruct:
- one real walkthrough
- one success incident
- one failure or near-miss incident
- three representative artifacts, cases, or outputs
If none of this exists, say so and treat the result as a first draft, not a finished method.
Workflow
1. Capture Performance
Use one or more:
- think-aloud narration during execution
- direct observation or screen recording
- critical incident interview after a success or failure
If you need prompts, read references/interview-prompts.md.
2. Extract the Hidden Layer
Pull out five things:
- trigger signals: what changes the expert's move
- decision cues: what they are actually noticing
- embodied actions: what they do automatically and may forget to mention
- failure signatures: what usually appears before a mistake
- escalation boundaries: when normal handling stops and handoff begins
3. Repackage Only After Extraction
Convert the findings into one or more:
- cue list
- checklist
- decision tree
- failure rubric
- escalation rule
4. Validate on a Fresh Case
Test the artifact on an unseen case with a novice, peer, or agent.
Success means:
- they can act, not just restate
- they notice the right cues
- they know when not to continue
Output
Return a compact package with:
- task definition
- cue list
- trigger list
- failure signatures
- escalation boundary
- recommended transfer format
Do Not
- confuse the expert's explanation with the expert's real decision process
- turn one anecdote into a universal rule
- ship a polished framework without at least one failure case