Storytelling as a Knowledge Management Tool in Metrology

Today, the usual way of doing business involves presenting quantitative data, including sales, profits, investment, and growth, among others. To do this, the most used resources to support decisions are software-visual presentations, flip charts, calculations, standards, procedures, and even information via the Internet [1]. Similarly, in the world of metrology, executives present data on: number of services, equipment calibration, certification of laboratories, companies visited, repeatability and reproducibility studies, and technological advances that reference research and standards from Metrology Centers. This way of using data and visualization is necessary, appropriate and works. However, how many times does this approach result in the feeling that it was not enough to close a successful business deal? What if they had missed the “hard” data? What was missing if only technology was used to support a sale and what was missing if…? Perhaps one solution is Storytelling! The aim of this paper is to present Storytelling as a useful tool in Knowledge Management (KM) for displaying knowledge in an organization, and in particular, in a metrology organization through story capsule configuration. At first, this paper presents the theoretical framework underlying the concept of Storytelling, its importance and its constituent elements. A brief description is made based on several important authors who have written on the subject. Secondly, we present the theoretical framework that sustains knowledge, its taxonomies and KM. Thirdly, we describe KM and its relationship with Storytelling, the representation of a story from the perspective of KM and deployment of Storytelling in the organization. Finally, we describe metrology from their types or main activities, and we present an approach to KM in metrology through Storytelling. The use and application of Storytelling is intended to support students’ skills in a career in this field (cognitive, psychomotor and social-emotional), and to provide insight to practitioners of the discipline of metrology on creative ways to present information about their work.