The Apprenticeship Problem

With people out of the office, how do you pass along highly specialised and subtle knowledge?

One of the most prevalent obstacles I hear about in terms of highly skilled knowledge workers adopting more flexible working practices is what I would refer to as the ‘apprenticeship problem’. At a Working Families event, a partner a London law firm explained to me the dynamics of senior partners passing on their expertise not quite through osmosis, but the physical proximity plays a huge role in involving the more junior associate in conversations that pass on specialised knowledge.

I have heard the issue raised a number of time since, most recently in a discussion at Dow Jones where we were discussing concepts in dynamic working. Gren Manuel, Editor Spot News, referred to it as the ‘kitchen issue’. It refers to so much expertise being passed along informally during breaks in the kitchen where people share perspectives on work. 

It’s sort of a derivation of the ‘water cooler’ problem. But the ‘water cooler’ issue is more about the employee losing out. Losing out on the fun of impromptu social interaction as well as entertaining and useful office gossip. The 'kitchen'' problem, on the other hand, refers to the company losing out. The ‘kitchen’ problem refers more to the corporate loss from impromptu and informal knowledge transfer.

The matter of geographic proximity enabling subtle knowledge transfer is a very important matter, but I do not think it need stand in the way to more flexible working. 

First, flexible working does is not an either-or, black-and-white matter. Rather it is a shaded gradient of how much flexibility is appropriate for a given role, company, context, etc. My premise in this blog is that modern technologies and practices can enable a greater degree of flexibility across all scenarios. As a result, in companies and jobs where this ‘apprenticeship’ dynamic is central, a strong degree of ‘face to face’ time will likely be key, but that does not have to mean 100% face-to-face time is the ideal blend. 

Second, the ‘kitchen’ may be a key catalyst to knowledge transfer, but that doesn’t have to mean that there aren’t better ‘kitchens’ than the one stuck in the office space. It might be that dynamic work introduces new ‘kitchens’ outside the workplace that inspire similar if not better conversations and skills transfer.

Finally, I think the matter represents a challenge to these industries and new leaders in these fields will find ways to innovate around new approaches and techniques to knowledge transfer that just the time honoured impromptu face-to-face coaching.