Over the past several years, the authors have conducted a research project in which they observed and interviewed coaches and their protégés in startups and older firms. The book presents the results of their research and reveals how knowledge transfer can be cultivated and leveraged throughout an organization, including how deep smarts emerge from the development of “experience repertoires” guided by knowledge coaches.
According to the authors, deep smarts are the engine of your organization, and you cannot progress without them. By understanding what they are, and how they are built, cultivated and transferred, they write, you will be able to manage more effectively. They also add that the people in your organization who have deep smarts form the basis of your organizational viability.
This book is based on know-how and know-what, the authors write, as well as “the ability to comprehend complex, interactive relationships and make swift, expert decisions based on that system level comprehension but also the ability, when necessary, to dive into component parts of that system and understand the details.” Deep smarts are not something you learn in college alone, they explain, “but they can be deliberately nourished and grown and, with dedication, transferred or recreated.”
This book was written for general managers who believe that investments in organizational learning and in people will grow profitability, the authors write, as well as those who believe that developing the next generation of leaders is an important part of their job.
The authors explain that deep smarts are formed and influenced internally by who we are, which includes our personal background, education and upbringing. In addition, they are also formed by external sources, which include other people who coach us directly and those we admire and emulate. Deep smarts also come from a buildup of knowledge, and are based on experience-based expertise as well as that of others, and can be used to quickly sum up a situation and render a decision. This includes the use of networks to solve problems. The authors also write that the process of shaping plays an important role in deep smarts — they are socially constructed forms of expertise, so they include our own convictions about what is real and true as well as whatever beliefs and assumptions we accept from those we admire.