SECI is a model of knowledge creation that describes how tacit and explicit knowledge interact to create organisational learning.

The model was developed by Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi (Nonaka et al., 2000). It describes four movements of knowledge creation:

Socialisation — tacit knowledge is shared through experience, observation, practice and interaction.

Externalisation — tacit knowledge is expressed through language, stories, metaphors, models or concepts.

Combination — explicit knowledge is organised, connected and integrated into more coherent forms.

Internalisation — explicit knowledge becomes embodied in practice, skill, judgement and changed behaviour.

In Adapt, Survive and Flourish, SECI matters because organisational learning is not simply the transfer of information. People do not learn deeply just because a document has been written, a system has been updated, or a workshop has been held.

Learning becomes real when knowledge moves through experience, conversation, reflection, structure and practice.

Why SECI Matters

Organisations often treat knowledge as if it is mainly explicit: documents, procedures, databases, reports, models, dashboards and training materials.

These are important, but they are not enough.

Much of what makes an organisation capable is tacit. It sits in judgment, experience, pattern recognition, practical skill, relationships, stories, workarounds and the ability to know what matters in context.

SECI helps explain how this tacit knowledge can be shared, expressed, structured and internalised without being reduced to lifeless documentation.

Without SECI-like movement:

• Experience remains trapped in individuals.
• Lessons learned do not change practice.
• Models become shelfware.
• Training becomes compliance.
• Knowledge bases become storage systems.
• Tacit judgement disappears when people leave.
• The organisation repeats mistakes it should have learned from.

SECI and Gemba

Gemba is where SECI becomes grounded in reality.

At Gemba, people share experience, observe work, surface tacit knowledge, test assumptions and learn from consequences. This is where knowledge stops being abstract and becomes connected to practice.

• Without Gemba, SECI can become a paperwork cycle.
• With Gemba, SECI becomes a learning cycle.

SECI and the Knowledge Operating System

A healthy Knowledge Operating System supports SECI by providing a place for knowledge to move.

Tacit knowledge can be surfaced through dialogue, Gemba and reflection. Explicit knowledge can be captured in models, source notes, process descriptions, data definitions, business capabilities and learning artefacts. Practice then evaluates whether that knowledge is useful.

The purpose is not just to document knowledge.

The purpose is to help knowledge become shared understanding and better action.

In Plain Terms

SECI explains how experience becomes knowledge, and how knowledge becomes practice.

It helps organisations move from:

what people know individually

to:

what the organisation can understand, use and improve together.

Related Concepts

• Tacit & Explicit Knowledge
• Gemba
• Hansei
• Ba & Basho
• Knowledge Operating System
• Knowledge Base
• Organisational Learning Ecosystem
• Shared Mental Models
• Adaptive Capacity

For more information, see:

SECI as Learning Throughput — The Engine of Adaptive Capacity

SECI Misunderstood: Externalisation Is Not the End

SECI: Not a Knowledge Model — A Learning System in Motion

Source Note – Scharmer’s Theory U, Sensemaking and SECI

Source Note — Ba / Basho → Field Conditions for SECI

Transformational Reform through a SECI Lens

Source Note — Learning Loops & Sensemaking

Subject Area – The Learning Environment

Nonaka, I., Toyama, R., & Konno, N. (2000). SECI, Ba and leadership: a unified model of dynamic knowledge creation. Long range planning, 33(1), 5–34.