NAVIS-based knowledge transfer from system experts to their heirs apparent

All organizations that survive for decades or more face the challenge of training new personnel to follow in the footsteps of system experts. The need for efficient and effective transfer of knowledge from system experts to the next generation of designers, builders, operators, and maintainers within complex systems is of critical importance in high-consequence domains (e.g., nuclear power, nuclear weapons, hazardous chemicals, bridge building, aircraft transport, space exploration, electric power grids). Unfortunately, data have indicated the presence of 10–40 year cyclical trends where organizations “forget” critical knowledge, experience an incident or accident, then “regain” critical knowledge for a finite period of time. While the causes of these recurring cases of “organizational amnesia” are varied, there is evidence that part of the problem is due to ineffective knowledge transfer from experts to their heirs apparent. Recently, a decision making process was developed that incorporates a unique taxonomy for understanding and aiding mitigation of perceptual/decision making biases. This taxonomy is comprised of twenty-seven recognized biases ordered into the categories of normative knowledge, availability, and individual specific biases (NAVIS). Foundational to the NAVIS approach are ten, welldefined critical thinking processes that can be used to mute the impact of undesirable biases, regulate the application of one’s knowledge to a decision, and guide information gathering activities. In this paper, an application of the NAVIS approach is described which may greatly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of knowledge transfer from system experts to those seeking expert status.