Projects are often evaluated through their outputs and outcomes: what results were pursued, what kinds of outcomes were achieved, what was published and communicated about the topic, and how different outputs are implemented after the project ends. But perhaps we should also pause to consider what does not appear in publications, reports, blogs, or handbooks, yet still remains as a lasting part of the thinking of those involved, such as us teachers and experts working in universities of applied sciences. Perhaps the most significant contribution of a project is not its individual outputs, but rather the hidden expertise it generates: the kind of knowledge, skills, and ways of thinking that are difficult to name, measure, or productize. This article argues that the LUME project has also played a major role in transforming ways of thinking and developing tacit knowledge.
From Tacit Knowledge to Visible Expertise
Hidden expertise can be understood through the concept of tacit knowledge. Polanyi (1966, p. 4), one of the first scholars to study the concept, described tacit knowledge with the statement: “we can know more than we can tell.” According to him, a significant part of human expertise is of a nature that cannot be fully verbalized or documented. Polanyi (pp. 9–13; 25–32) also emphasized that tacit knowledge is built through experience and action.
Tacit knowledge has become an important concept especially in organizational studies. As Hadjimichael et al. (2024, p. 546) note, whether a task is practical or expert-oriented, simple or complex, routine or creative, its successful execution always depends partly on tacit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is particularly evident in context-sensitive, experience-based judgment, where individuals recognize essential situational factors, respond intuitively, and learn within uncertain and changing environments.
From this perspective, the learning process within the LUME project, along with all the materials produced and experiments conducted, created a strong foundation for tacit expertise. This expertise enables us to approach new technological phenomena critically and identify new, essential needs, problems, and solutions—especially in situations where no ready-made answers yet exist.
Hidden expertise can also be examined through the lens of situated learning. This perspective emphasizes that expertise does not emerge as isolated individual activity, but through participation in shared practices and communities. According to Lave and Wenger (1991, pp. 29–33; 67–69; see also Ackermann et al., 2024, pp. 596–597), situated learning develops gradually within communities as part of everyday practices. In this sense, expertise is not only visible in outputs and results, but also accumulates as collectively shared ways of thinking. Tacit knowledge becomes social, context-bound expertise.
Many of my own views, assumptions, and attitudes related to Web3 technologies changed through regular project meetings. By discussing, exchanging ideas, and experimenting together, I learned far more collectively than I ever could have alone. My own, at times perhaps even childlike, enthusiasm and curiosity toward the new topic certainly supported this learning process. Learning manifested itself, for example, in the courage to admit to others that I did not understand something. The expertise produced together was not tied to any specific role or organization. Rather, it was based on shared ownership that continues to live on and spread as tacit knowledge among us participants even after the project has ended.
Web3: An Object of Learning or a Catalyst?
When reading a project report focused on Web3 themes, attention is easily drawn to technologies, tools, or applications. Naturally, one tends to ask what was learned about technological concepts such as blockchains, NFTs, DAOs, or smart contracts. However, as the LUME project progressed, it became increasingly clear to me that the most important learning was not related to any specific technical solution.
Many of the learning transformations that emerged during the project were subtle in nature. The project fostered new enthusiasm for asking questions and experimenting, new ways of relating to technological change and constantly evolving operational environments, and new ways of understanding commercialization opportunities in the creative industries. At the beginning of the project, Web3 appeared to me primarily as a new phenomenon that I, as a teacher, should explain, clarify, and make understandable. Gradually, however, this perspective shifted. Web3 was no longer primarily something to be taught. Instead, it became a catalyst that forced us to rethink our perspectives in new ways.
Web3 highlights many questions related to ownership, value creation, and revenue models (Perboli et al., 2026). These are not entirely new issues unique to the Web3 world, but the technology gives concrete form to otherwise rather abstract concepts. Instead of technology itself, the core of learning becomes user-centeredness, values, and choices. At the same time, Web3 loses some of the technical mystique surrounding it, which in turn makes it more approachable.
One of the most important lessons concerns teaching itself. When dealing with emerging and rapidly evolving technologies, complete mastery of the subject is simply unrealistic—at least if you are not teaching in a technology field. Nevertheless, as a teacher, you inevitably found yourself outside your comfort zone: how can you teach something that is entirely new even to you? Yet this discomfort did not prove to be a problem. On the contrary, it may actually have created space for shared learning, critical discussion, and acceptance of incompleteness. This mindset certainly does not apply only to Web3 themes, but can also be transferred to future technological disruptions—ones that teachers and educators in the creative industries will inevitably continue to encounter.
When the Hype Fades, the Expertise Remains – How Can It Be Sustained?
The hype surrounding Web3 has been intense, but according to Gartner’s Hype Cycle model, the decline of hype is a typical and expected phase for emerging technologies (Stephan, 2025). From the project’s perspective, however, this is not necessarily a problem. The rise and fall of hype can actually function as a gateway to deeper learning. The hidden expertise developed within LUME represents precisely this more enduring form of capital. It appears as a readiness to approach new technologies critically yet openly, an ability to distinguish the essential from the irrelevant, and the courage to leave some solutions unused. Not everything must be adopted, and not everything requires participation—this too is part of expertise.
Not all expertise can be productized or documented within systems, because a significant part of professional expertise is based on tacit knowledge that cannot be fully verbalized or formalized (Hadjimichael et al., 2024, pp. 546–547). This does not mean that such expertise lacks value. Hidden expertise can be nurtured by recognizing it, allowing time for it, and enabling it to develop as part of everyday practice. This transformation cannot easily be demonstrated or quickly measured; its effects are long-term. LUME does not end with the outputs produced during the project, but continues to live on as a transformation in ways of thinking.
References
Ackermann, F., Pyrko, I., & Hill, G. (2024). Mobilizing landscapes of practice to address grand challenges. Human Relations, 77(5), 593-621.
Hadjimichael, D., Ribeiro, R., & Tsoukas, H. (2024). How Does Embodiment Enable the Acquisition of Tacit Knowledge in Organizations? From Polanyi to Merleau-Ponty. Organization Studies, 45(4), 545–570. https://doi.org/10.1177/01708406241228374
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge University Press.
Perboli, G., Merlo, F., & Vandoni, C. (2026). Decentralizing the future: Value creation in Web 3.0 and the Metaverse. Horizon Europe. https://open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu/articles/5-226
Polanyi, M. (1966). The tacit dimension. Doubleday & Company.
Stephan, C. (8.9.2025). Get Grounded With the 2025 Gartner Hype Cycle™ for Emerging Technologies. https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/hype-cycle-for-emerging-technologies
Author:
Satu Lautamäki is a Principal Lecturer in Cultural Management at Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences (SEAMK). She works as an expert in the LUME – Creative in the Web3 Era project, co-funded by the European Social Fund of the European Union.
Comments
No comments