Hi there,

It was the first time I had ever let my son drive my car to school. Big mistake …

He was backing out of his parking space and another student smashed into the back of him. The whole back bumper was gone.

And that was the start of my experience with the trials of tribal knowledge.

To our surprise, our insurance declared the car unrepairable even though it was just the bumper that was smashed. I loved my car, so I didn’t want to give it up.

The adjuster told me that I could take the payout and find my own shop to fix it. This was wrong.

I found a shop who could fix it for the amount the insurance company had provided. They said they could fix it and then help me register it. That was wrong.

The car got fixed and I was driving it just fine. But when I went to register it I wasn’t allowed to. Confused, I called the DMV to ask what was happening. They gave me a bunch of information … that was all wrong.

Finally, after multiple calls with my insurance, the auto-body shop, and the DMV, I was transferred to a DMV specialist in Richmond, Virginia who was able to explain to me exactly what the law was and why I had to turn my car (which was perfectly drivable) over to the state.

The result:

• My insurance company ended up paying for the car twice. They admitted their mistake and paid out double what they would have had to.
  
  
• The auto-body shop wasted several hours trying to help us figure things out, only to discover that they misunderstood the rules.
  
  
• The DMV paid multiple agents to sit on the phone with my wife and give us incorrect information.

And my wife and I? We lost a little of our soul as we spent hours on the phone only to have to see our perfectly drivable car towed away.

You might think I am complaining about the law. I’m not. That is a totally separate issue.

The major frustration came from the reliance on tribal knowledge.

All that was needed was a simple knowledge base article titled, “In the state of Virginia, can a car that has been declared “non-repairable” be registered if it is repaired?”

No. The answer would have been no.

That would have saved the insurance company a lot of money. 💰

It would have saved the DMV a lot of time. 🕰

It would have saved my wife and I a lot of frustration. 😑

A reliance on tribal knowledge exacts a huge cost in all of our lives. That cost can be measured in dollars, days, and a decrease in mental well-being.

But you can stop it.

Look at areas where your organization is relying on tribal knowledge.

Analyze the interactions and the habits.

And then change your culture from a tribal knowledge culture to a guided knowledge culture.

Your CFO, your CEO, your employees, and every person that interacts with your company will thank you for it.

We recently created this free Tribal Knowledge Cost Calculator to help identify exactly how much money tribal knowledge is costing businesses daily, annually, and every time a supervisor has to jump in to help an employee answer a question or solve a problem. 

Calculate your costs at your own risk.

Talk soon,

Greg