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Introduction
A few years ago this might have been considered a paper that added another perspective to the emerging theory of knowledge, as indeed it does. But today, there is a crying need in organizations to learn more about deep knowledge. We call this body of ideas action theory because of the direct link between knowledge and action. The following is the logic trail. The performance of any organization is determined every day by the actions taken by every single employee. Decisions drive those actions, and knowledge empowers good decisions and implements effective actions (see the definition of knowledge). Thus the knowledge within an organization determines organizational performance. In addition, meta knowledge (knowledge about knowledge) occurs at the level of patterns, a notch above pragmatic knowledge in terms of context and content. This means that it is not tied to a specific content or context, but rather is associated with higher-level patterns suggested by that content and context that can potentially be transferred to other situations.
Acknowledging that any framework or model is an artificial construct, we nonetheless propose that it is helpful to consider knowledge in terms of three levels: surface knowledge, shallow knowledge and deep knowledge. The analogy built upon here is that of exploring the ocean. A pontoon or light sail boat catching the wind skims rapidly across the waters without concern for that which lies below in the water; as long as whatever lies below does not come to or affect the surface, it is of little concern to forward movement. For any boat moving in shallow waters, more attention (and some understanding) is required of what is beneath the surface, dependent on the ballast, to ensure forward movement. In deep waters - engaged over longer periods of time - safety and success require a proven vessel, an experienced captain, a thorough understanding of oceanography, a well-honed navigation system sensitive to current flows and dangers of the ocean, and a well-developed intuition sensitive to deep water terrain, currents and so forth. Carrying the metaphor a bit further, whether surfing or moving through shallow or deep waters, a certain amount of skill is involved, although these also require somewhat different skill sets. The metaphor deals with the level of involvements with what...