Tribal Knowledge in Maintenance | How to Prevent It and More

Most of us have heard one variation or another of this story. It’s the story where an old engineer/mechanic is called to work on a machine that had been down for some time and critical to get running. The experienced and knowledgeable mechanic inspects the machine briefly, pulls out a hammer, taps on the machine, and the machine begins running. When he invoices the company for his services, the company becomes upset because of the high cost of the invoice. The mechanic itemizes the invoice as usually one to five dollars, depending on the version of the hammer, and the rest of the invoice, usually in the thousands, for knowing where to tap with the hammer.  

This story is posted and published several times per year on social media, used in speeches at conferences, quoted as an example of quantity of work vs. quality of work, and used to encourage people with technical knowledge to not undervalue themselves. I understand the lessons in the story, and I am not here to tear down the value of knowledge and experience. Respect for work and knowledge of craftsmen is a foundation of any maintenance team. Personal ownership of equipment and processes are of great value to companies and teams.

But are there times when this can become toxic and dangerous to a company?  And if so, how can you recognize the situation and actively prevent it?

What Is Tribal Knowledge?

Tribal knowledge is defined by iSixSigma as “any unwritten information that is not commonly known by others within the company. This term is used most when referencing information that may need to be known by others.”  

It is normal to have individuals who specialize in a piece of equipment or type of equipment. But when that specialization turns into an exclusive and hostile hoarding of information or resources, the team, and ultimately the company, are at risk of being held hostage by that tribal knowledge. When information cannot be clearly shared and documented for the entire team, a company is put at a disadvantage. Training, improvement, and standardization opportunities are slim to none. If the person holding the information were to become unable or unwilling to work, the team is left scrambling trying to pick up the pieces on equipment they are unfamiliar with.

What Does Tribal Knowledge Look Like?

In my first leadership role, I encountered a mechanic who went to great lengths to ensure that no one knew how to work on the equipment in one area but him. He locked all of the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) manuals in his toolbox, kept the parts for the area hidden in secret hiding places all over the plant, and was confrontational if he saw anyone near “his” equipment. He even went as far as to lock out the machinery when he was not going to be in the plant, and if the line wasn’t running, no one could touch the machine when he was not present.  

Since no one could work on anything in the area but him, he was on call 24/7 and was making more than anyone else in the plant due to after-hour call-ins and overtime. The rest of the team were highly discouraged by his behavior and demoralized that he could get away with these things for so long.  Probably even more shocking to me was how the other departments believed that he was the “best” on the team because if anyone else ever had to work in the area, they looked confused, could never find the parts or manual, and ended up calling him at home. To the people who didn’t understand what was going on, he was a hero and was often recognized with gift cards and praise for coming in “whenever he was needed” to keep the plant productive.

When I confronted him about this behavior, he explained to me that this was “job security,” and that “we could never lay him off or fire him.” He did this intentionally, and by doing this he had “made himself indispensable.” The three things that I found the most puzzling about the situation were:

1. That the company had allowed it to get as far as it did.

2. That there were people, including the plant manager, who agreed that no one should touch the machine but him. (Because when others had tried, “it hadn’t worked out well.”

3. That he had let fear and selfishness drive him to the point of sabotaging the rest of his team.

While I wish that I could say that I got through to him with countless coaching sessions, asking him to train others, telling him that his “job security” could come from being a subject matter expert and guiding the rest of the team, eventual verbal and written write ups, etc. In the end, he did not change his ways, and we parted ways. Since then, I have seen varying degrees of this behavior in other individuals.

How to Combat Tribal Knowledge

Build a Department Mission and Vision Statement

If possible, include teamwork, knowledge sharing, or some variation of this and rally the team behind it.  Set the expectation up front.

Create a Safe Environment

While you may not be able to control outside influences like market trends and company decisions for layoffs, you do control the type of environment within your work team. Create an environment where people are shown respect, empathy, concern, and where teamwork is expected, and people will be less likely to hold information.

Encourage Information Sharing by Sharing Information and Soliciting Feedback

In the new high turnover workforce, many seasoned veterans have worked for so many managers and leaders that they don’t see the need to invest in your success by helping you out. The remedy is to deeply invest in their success. Share all information you can about the future, budgets, vision and mission, and solicit feedback. Really listen to what is being said.

Stop Rewarding Behavior That You Don’t Want Repeated

It sounds simple enough but it happens. Reward proactive activities. Reward knowledge sharing. Reward documenting a process or procedure. Reward creating troubleshooting guides. You can reward people for their knowledge and experience by rewarding them to share it.

Complete Audits on Preventive Maintenance or Routine Work

Auditing the work that is being done can be eye-opening for all involved. While auditing a written job procedure with a mechanic who was retiring, 20 additional tasks he completed that were not documented were identified. When asked about it, he said he hadn’t printed the procedure in years because he had been doing it for so long. Those critical tasks, if we had missed documenting them, would have caused us problems had we not caught them.

Use Technology to Transfer Knowledge

Use smart glasses, video, photos, data collection, CMMS, accurate work order information, purchasing records, problem descriptions, causes, and remedy in work orders, root cause analysis, and problem-solving information. Don’t just ask for people to be trained but create multimedia training materials.

Include OEMs and Vendors When Available

Use outside resources to fill in the blanks and keep knowledge up to date.

A CMMS is one of the best ways to store equipment and repair history and easily transfer knowledge to technicians when they need it. For more information on how a CMMS can help your organization's knowledge sharing, check out our CMMS Buyer's Guide by clicking the banner below!