【每日德鲁克】2026年5月6日

6 May

Knowledge Does Not Eliminate Skill

Knowledge without skill is unproductive.

At present, the term "knowledge worker" is widely used to describe people with considerable theoretical knowledge and learning: doctors, lawyers, teachers, accountants, chemical engineers. But, the most striking growth will be in "knowledge technologists": computer technicians, software designers, analysts in clinical labs, manufacturing technologists, paralegals. These people are as much manual workers as they are knowledge workers; in fact, they usually spend far more time working with their hands than with their brains.

So, knowledge does not eliminate skill. On the contrary, knowledge is fast becoming the foundation for skill. We are using knowledge more and more to enable people to acquire skills of a very advanced kind fast and successfully. Only when knowledge is used as a foundation for skill does it become productive. For example, surgeons preparing for an operation to correct a brain aneurysm before it produces a lethal brain hemorrhage spend hours in diagnosis before they cut—and that requires specialized knowledge of the highest order. The surgery itself, however, is manual work—and manual work consisting of repetitive manual operations in which the emphasis is on speed, accuracy, uniformity. And these operations are studied, organized, learned, and practiced exactly like any other manual work.

5月6日

知识并不消除技能

没有技能的知识是无效的。

目前，“知识工作者”这一术语被广泛用于描述拥有大量理论知识和学习的人：医生、律师、教师、会计师、化学工程师。但增长最显著的将是“知识技术人员”：计算机技术员、软件设计师、临床实验室分析师、制造技术人员、律师助理。这些人既是体力工作者，也是知识工作者；事实上，他们通常花更多时间用手工作，而不是用脑。

因此，知识并不消除技能。相反，知识正迅速成为技能的基础。我们越来越多地利用知识，使人们能够快速而成功地掌握高水平技能。只有当知识成为技能的基础时，它才具有生产力。例如，外科医生在进行脑动脉瘤手术前，会花费数小时进行诊断，以防止致命性脑出血——这需要极高水平的专业知识。然而，手术本身是体力劳动——而且是重复性的体力操作，强调速度、准确性和一致性。这些操作的研究、组织、学习和训练，与其他体力劳动完全相同。