Declarative and Procedural Knowledge
Do you know the difference? Does it matter?
Hey friend
Welcome to 200 Word Tuesdays. Where we give you short, actionable ideas to implement in your project management. We promise that you haven’t heard these powerful ideas anywhere else. Let’s get started.
Some things you know. Some things you know how to do.
There’s a clear difference.
You know you should lead and not manage. But how?
You know you should write compelling reports. But the art of being a wordsmith is more tricky.
The concept of moving from declarative knowledge (knowing what to do) to procedural knowledge (knowing how to do it) is common in learning science.
But how do we make sure that we develop the more useful procedural skills?
Practice: This is the first, most obvious step. Regular practice. Repetition. Repetition. Repetition.
Concurrent Cognitive Load: This is a fancy way of saying don’t do too many things at once. Avoid overloading your mind. When learning to speak to a group, try it first in front of trusted colleagues rather than at a major conference.
Feedback: Immediate feedback during practice helps refine procedural knowledge. We can’t see our own flaws as clearly as others can. Get feedback on your work.
Effectively leveraging both declarative and procedural knowledge is key to mastering your field.
Move mindfully from one form to the other. Make sure you can really do things.
Test your understanding with practice.
This is the difference between a true expert and someone who merely claims to be one.
See you next week,
Jonathan (The Effective Project Manager)
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