The difference between Knowledge and Knowhow (2025)

I’m in the process of teaching myself web programming. This is a far cry from my liberal arts degree and my experience as a Spanish teacher, and there have been plenty of hiccups and fits along the way. But I have been learning much more than just what it takes to tell a computer what to do. I’ve learned that I enjoy getting dirty in some code and navigating to a solution that I literally have no compass for. I am awestruck when I think of the possibilities that this technolgy offers. I am also amazed at how much there truly is to learn. Which has directed me toward noticing a clear difference between Knowledge and Knowhow.

As I was reflecting on this I made the seeming obvious observation that knowhow is just two words pushed together that describe what it is. It is the Knowing and the Howing. You cannot separate these when you want to get things done. They feed off of each other.

I may have a lot of knowledge about the Spanish language but I have a hard time speaking. I may have a lot of knowledge about working on cars, but I don’t really know how to replace an engine. The knowhow is where it gets to be tricky. It is a place of vulnerability at first. It is a place where you can make mistakes and fall down. It is a place where if you don’t know how, then you will need to ask for help or suffer the consequences. Knowledge can only get you so far. Knowhow can get you to the end. That is where we have a hard time. It threatens our confidence and our sense of self-worth. It can show our faults, and at times, we are very much aware of them and don’t want to be reminded. We don’t want to be told or shown again. We don’t want it to be proven that we are, in that moment, inadequate. But what is missing is the fact that things can change. That knowledge isn’t enough, and that knowhow is what gets you there, but like all things, putting in the hard work is what will ultimately determine success.

I have been studying and applying what I am learning with code and it has been a much better experience when they are coupled together. Knowhow is nothing without knowledge. I have completed some online courses that took me through building a few applications, so in a sense, I “know how” to build those applications. But when I am on my own, I can’t even begin. That is where knowhow needs knowledge. However, when I began studying and understanding the theory, or gaining the knowledge of how things work, then I was able to at least apply what I know to how to do it. I know something, but that is useless unless I also know how to apply it. I may know how to do something, but that may only work in that particular instance and without the knowledge of why it works, then I could be lost if I need to do something else. The true moral is that it is necessary to build both, and I don’t think it matters in what order, so long as they are built together. Furthermore, it is paramount that you put in the hard work and persistence to swim through the murky waters of learning the how as well as the reason behind it. Just as important as it is to feel comfortable with the uncomfortable and be okay with mistakes without beating yourself up. That is what learning and getting better is. It’s hard and ugly and uncomfortable and sad and beautiful and breathtaking all at the same time.