The Knowing-Doing Gap

Competence Is Not Merely Something an Executive Possesses. It Is Something They Must Continually Produce.

A foundational paper on capability, conversion and evidence in cross-cultural management performance.

Organisations have never had greater access to knowledge about culture, communication, leadership and adaptation. The problem is what we are entitled to infer once a manager possesses it.

When a consequential interaction begins, knowledge is no longer the outcome. It is an input. The manager must perceive what is happening, interpret incomplete evidence, choose a response, enact it effectively, read what that response produces and change course when the situation demands it.

The paper examines three gaps:

• the conversion gap — what someone possesses versus what they actually produce;
• the evidence gap — what we observe versus what we claim it demonstrates;
• the adaptive and transfer gap — what works here versus what remains effective as conditions change and beyond development.

Cultural knowledge can improve preparation and widen the range of possible explanations. But it cannot diagnose the individual with certainty.

Culture changes the odds. It does not determine the person.

The full academic paper is available by request. Each request is considered before access is provided