It generally involves dividing the knowledge-acquisition effort among multiple individuals, each of whom becomes a "subject matter expert" on some specialized area of the larger topic, then having them extract and abstract the more important findings and recommendations from that investigation into reports to and discussions with others in the organization.
The process usually distributes the knowledge-acquisition task across various individuals, where each person specializes in a particular aspect of the overarching subject matter. These specialists then consolidate and communicate the key insights and recommendations derived from their research to other members of the organization through reports and discussions.