QinC — Strauch: “What is stuffed into your head … has simply been squirreled away in the folds of your neurons.”

A Few processes for recovering Buried Knowledge.

QinC: “What is stuffed into your head may not have vanished but has simply been squirreled away in the folds of your neurons.” — Strauch, 2009 A Few processes for recovering Buried Knowledge.

In her interestingly titled NYT article, “How to train the aging Brain.” [Which appeared a year before she released her book, ‘The secret life of the grown-up brain.’] Barbara Strauch starts by mentioning that the many long held theories of ‘lost brain cells’ have been debunked. She then rolls out the opening quote about information being ‘squirreled away’.

I however, want to explore this idea of ‘squirrelling away’. I quite like Webster’s definition: to put (something of future use or value) in a safe or secret place or squirrelling the information away for future reference. [storing, stashing, setting aside, stowing], especially the second part.

The first part refers to physical things, be they large or small. Not to be confused with hoarders or pack rats, these are valuable mementos, legal documents or priceless heirlooms.The second part of this definition refers to information, or better yet, how we process, store and recall information. Stauch focuses especially on the recall (or lack of recall) of important information. “But didn’t I, after underlining all those interesting parts, retain anything else?” In reference to making notations and underlying important bits of a well dog-eared book. We will revisit recalling information later.

Increased Complexity

Referencing Kathleen Taylor, the article mentions middle ages brains can gain greater complexity by challenging their reasoning processes (bias) as it provides added complexity to the existing neural connections. Furthermore, ‘nudging neurons’ by challenging assumptions happens when we bump up against people with different ideas and POV. This is not about changing our minds or beliefs, but maybe how we are interpreting information or becoming more aware of our biases.

This increase in complexity asserts that aging brains might therefore have a better capacity for seeing the big picture. Quickly integrating new information into existing or emerging ideas from existing knowledge. This jives with my research about Meaning Making: how we filter and process the vast streams of data that flow through our neurons on a daily basis.

Going back to Strauch and our recall, she mentions how specific visual or verbal cues can unlock memories. A song, or image or quote from a movie or a story from someone else can brush away the cobwebs of neural areas. I experienced this first hand during my master research when interviewing resort line staff. If I just asked ‘what did you learn by yourself?’ I would get blank stares. But if I asked a bartender, ‘has he ever experimented with new drink ideas?, it quickly turned into a series of animated stories that triggered others to add to the story. By the end of these sessions I would have pages of notes of informal learning instances that the staff were completely unaware of.

Mining your Neurons (Buried Knowledge)

How do we, or can others, unlock those bits of ideas or complex thoughts that are ‘squirreled away’. Most of my masters research was looking at ways to codify Tacit Knowledge. Which I went on to call ‘Buried Knowledge’. Strauch’s article supports what my own research found, that in order to ‘mine’ what is squirreled away, we need to facilitate a completely different way of process or thinking. She pens the phrase, ‘…we need to crack the cognitive egg and scramble it up.’ Meaning more than just having our bias challenged (nudging), we need to explore different ways of triggering (verbal, viewing, emotional reactions, etc) our initial memories that open up the neurons where we have buried the information.

Corporate Consciousness

“We know more than we can tell.” This quote from Polanyi was at the heart of my research about codifying tacit knowledge. For my own research I developed the C.O.A.P. Method.

C.O.A.P. : Collect / Organize / Analyze / Produce

This may sound obvious, but the collection and analysis elements need intense planning that incorporates a variety of methodologies that are then pulled together in a cohesive manner. Long-time Corporate Founders, Directors, and Executives also have massive amounts of important and essential information and wisdom ‘squirreled away. AT4Y’s Buried Knowledge C.O.A.P. process can facilitate the mining of this essential data.

ACTION POINT: What are some ways you have mined your own ‘squirrled away’ knowledge?