I met a woman at work recently — we’ll call her Jane — who’s been doing her job for thirty-five years. She made a comment in passing that stuck with me. She said somebody needs to get all the knowledge out of her head before she retires, because if nobody comes to extract it, it’s leaving with her.
She didn’t say this with bitterness. She wasn’t holding it hostage. She was offering it. A thirty-five-year library of institutional knowledge, available to anyone willing to sit down and ask.
So I asked.
I think about this a lot. How much knowledge is out there right now, locked inside someone’s head, that could solve problems we’ve been staring at for years? How many people would tell you almost everything they know about a subject if you’d just take the time to sit with them and make it happen?
I asked Jane if I could schedule a few interviews with her. She said yes immediately. Here’s what I plan to ask: Who are you? What do you do? Why does it matter to you? How did the business processes you manage build up over time? Where did they serve the company well, and where have they become obstacles? How have cycles of innovation and progress collided or cooperated during your career? Where would you fix things if you could?
That’s not a casual conversation. That’s an excavation. And with voice-to-text technology available today, I can stay fully engaged — asking thoughtful follow-up questions, reading her body language, being present — while still capturing every word. I can send her the highlights afterward. She can confirm my understanding. The second interview fills the gaps instead of retreading the ground.
Jane spent thirty-five years learning things the hard way. Every decision she’s made, every process she’s watched evolve, every cycle of innovation she’s lived through — that’s not in a system anywhere. It’s in her head. And she’s willing to give it away.
I’m showing up.
David Willis 