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Leadership: What has Wisdom got to with it?

by Dr Bruce Lloyd, Professor of Strategic Management, London South Bank University, (103 Borough Rd, London SE1 OAA, UK , tel: 02078158240,email:lloydba@lsbu.ac.uk.)

Over the past decade, in my view, the core development in strategy has been therecognition of the importance of Learning and Learning Organisation concepts. In factit is increasingly recognised by organisations, individuals - and even nation states -that:

"Effective learning is the only sustainable competitive advantage".

I certainly do not find it surprising that, in the past few years, this focus on Learninghas been extended into a whole new industry called 'Knowledge Management', as well

as being an integral part of Leadership.Obviously, if you are concerned with learning, it is natural to ask thequestions: What are we learning? And perhaps even more importantly: What do weneed to learn? And How do we learn it? These developments coincided with thewidespread use of computers which created massive new challenges from what isknown as 'information explosion'.

In parallel, there has been the influence of the Millennium itself. That event wasprobably the greatest learning point in human history. Never before has so muchintellectual effort been focused on reflecting on - and learning from - our history. Thatreflective learning should start by trying to define what has been distilled into wisdomby exploring three basic key questions:

* Where have we come from?* What are we doing here? and* Where are we going?

Surely H.G. Wells was right when he said that: "Human history becomes more andmore a race between Education and Catastrophe." (H.G. Wells (1866-1946), TheOutline of History (1920).)

How often do we seem to be either obsessed with technology, or so focused on theexperience of the here-and-now, that the issue of wisdom appears to be virtuallyignored?

We also need to recognise that the more change that is going on in society, the moreimportant it is that we make sure that our learning and leadership is as effective aspossible. That is the only way we have any chance of being able to equate changewith progress. So, if we want to have a better future the first, and most important,thing that we have to do is, in my view, improve the quality and effectiveness of ourlearning.

An underlying assumption of the word 'learning' is that we are trying to do things'better'. We are trying to improve things. We are trying to make progress. Of course,

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the concepts behind the words: 'improve', 'better' and 'progress' are powerfully values-driven, which is increasingly recognised to be at the core of leadership.

I recognise there is a risk in expounding the concept of wisdom that I might be seen tobe supporting the view that somehow I, or we, know all the answers. That is certainly

not the intention. The prime objective is to raise some questions that, in my view, donot appear to be asked often enough.

Wisdom statements are those that appear to be useful in helping us all make the worlda better place in the future. But they are only useful, if they also check out with ourown experience. Of course, that relatively simple objective is not quite as easy as itsounds for at least two reasons:

Firstly, the word 'better' explicitly and implicitly means that we are involved inconsidering the whole complicated subject of values that are embedded in thequestion: "What do we mean by 'better'? It should surprise no one that a critical partof the content of any wisdom statement is the extent to which it incorporates

judgements about values. In fact, in many ways, that is a critical part of the definitionof what we mean by wisdom. But that does not mean that all statements that reflectvalues can be defined as wisdom; the extra dimension required is that they are widelyaccepted, and that they have 'stood the test of time'.

Secondly, it is important to recognise that in trying to 'make the world a better placefor us all' we can run into potential areas of conflict.For example, making things 'better' for some people is at the expense of making itworse for others. Much of the conflict that arises in this area is because differentpeople mean different things as they are using different time horizons when they talk about the future. Some are obsessed with tomorrow, whilst others are primarilyconcerned with what they perceive to be the needs of the next hundred years. Theseissues are central to all debates about the role and nature of leadership.

If learning is critical, we then have to ask ourselves:

* What is the wisdom?* How do we learn it? and* How can we pass it on (more) effectively?

"Wisdom: can be considered to be a useful truth (or knowledge) with a long shelf life.And Knowledge is useful information with a shorter shelf life than wisdom. WithInformation being Data but with a longer shelf life."

The traditional approach is that there is a close link within the pyramid of data,information, and knowledge that ends with wisdom. And, in essence, there issomehow greater 'added value' as we move up the pyramid. On the other hand, Iwould like to argue that we do (and should), at least in parallel, start with wisdom asour base, which then provides the framework within which to manage knowledge, andso on through the pyramid to information and data. Consequently, without aneffective base at one level, it is impossible to manage effectively the next layer up. In

addition, it is also possible to argue that Knowledge is Information in Use. AndWisdom is the integration of Knowledge and Values. Hence I hope I have established

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This is not just an academic exercise, our future is critically dependent on what welearn and, unless this subject is given much greater attention, it is extremely unlikelythat we will be involved in anything remotely like progress, however that is defined.

There is enormous scope for debate, both practical and philosophical, about the

specific wisdom items identified in this article. It only really becomes important whenwe try to establish priorities which, of course, in the end, we always need to do.However, at this stage, I am just concerned with trying to encourage the debate.

I would also like to acknowledge the parallel (and overlapping) contributions of otherpublications, I have come across recently*

1. The Wisdom Literature, Appendix C in First Things First by Stephen R.Covey & A. Roger Merrill, Simon & Schuster (1994), which explores the patterns,consistencies and themes that they consider represented the most validated database inall human experience.2. The Wisdom of the Ages: Eternal Truths for Everyday Life, by Wayne W.Dyer, Thorsons (1998), which is a remarkable analysis of how we can live moremeaningful lives by close study of the words of poets and philosophers throughout theages.3. Working Wisdom: The Ultimate Value in the New Economy, by John Della Costa,Stoddart Publishing Co. (1995). It strongly argues that our perceived wisdom is thedriving force behind our behaviour and that the subject is a vital part of any effectiveKnowledge Management programme.

Yet in a quick survey of eighteen books on Knowledge Management, I found onlythree felt the subject of wisdom was sufficiently important to mention in the index.Apart from those mentioned above, which were not essentially knowledgemanagement books, none gave the subject of wisdom the importance I believe it

justifies. The same comment can equally apply to books on Leadership, where thewhole subject of wisdom is rarely mentioned.

However, as we move into the next Millennium, both the 'Knowledge Economy'and Leadership are being given more and more attention. As a result, we are, andneed to be, increasingly concerned with what is the core of knowledge, distilledthrough the experience of history into wisdom, that is critically important for us topreserve and pass onto future generations?

History does appear to shows that it is incredibly easy to ignore and learning of theexperiences of earlier millennia: "If we still have not learned the lessons of 2000 yearsof history, why should we suddenly start being able to learn it now?" (Anon). Or toput that another way:"The only lesson we appear to be able to learn from history is that we don't learn thelessons of history." (Anon.).

Many of the important messages about the state and future of the Human Race weremade over a thousand years ago, in China, the Middle East and other earlysophisticated societies. This should, perhaps, not surprise us, as wisdom consists of

insights that have stood the test of time, precisely because they are concerned with

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making statements about relationships between people, either individually or insocietal context, or about our relationship with the universe as a whole

"Knowledge is a process of piling up facts; wisdom lies in their simplification."(Martin H. Fisher)

"To know how to grow old is the masterwork of wisdom, and one of the most difficultchapters in the great art of living." (Henri FredericAmiel)

And what are some of the general wisdom messages that we might like to pass ontofuture generations?

"Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell."(Edward Abbey)

"By doubting, we come to examine, and by examining, so we perceive the truth."(Peter Abelard)

"It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them."(Alfred Adler)

"Greatness lies not in being strong, but in the right use of strength"(Henry Ward Beecher)

And a few specifically Future related wisdom quotations:

"The farther back you look, the farther forward you see." (WinstonChurchill)

"If you won't be better tomorrow than you were today then what do you needtomorrow for?" (Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav (1772-1811))

"Depression is the inability to construct a future." (Rollo May (1909 -1994))

"You must be the change you want to see in the world." (Mahatma Gandhi

(1869-1948))

"Education is your passport to the future. For tomorrow belongs to the people whoprepare for it today." (Malcolm X (1925-1965))

"I touch the future: I teach." (Christa MacAuliffe, astronaut(1948-1986))

In recent years we have seen efforts to move people from the idea of 'Working Harder'to 'Working Smarter'. Increasingly we need to move beyond 'Working Smarter' to'Working Wiser'. And, as we more along that progression, we need to recognise that

we are moving to a situation where the important issues primarily reflect the qualityof our values, rather than the quantity of our physical effort.

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The core issues of Leadership were well defined over two thousand years ago by LaoTzu when he argued:

The highest type of rule is one whose existence the people are barely aware.

Next comes one whom they love and praise.Next comes one whom they fear.Next comes one whom they despise and defy.When you are lacking faith,Others will be unfaithful to you.The Sage is self-effacing and scanty of words.When his(*) task is accomplished and things have been completed, All the people say,We ourselves have achieved it!

((*) Now their)

Perhaps you cannot teach Wisdom, but it is certainly most unlikely that it is in ourgenes - so, somehow, it must be learned. The question is how can we make thatlearning process more effective - on the assumption, of course, that we consider it animportant thing to do?

If we want to manage complexity successfully, and make progress in the world today,we have to start by getting the simple things right. This needs to be based on moreeffective understanding, and use, of accumulated wisdom. Unfortunately, all too oftenthe problems arise precisely because we haven't got the simple things right in the firstplace. This includes the need for a greater emphasis on sharing knowledge, rather thanthe more traditional concept of 'Knowledge is Power'. And we need to be reasonablysure that we are starting by asking the right questions.

But probably the most important of those simple things to get right is for leaders to'walk the talk'. It is relatively easy to know what is the right thing to do - the hardthing is to ensure that it gets done.Indeed, why does it appear to be relatively easy to recognise wisdom, but soincredibly difficult to be wise in practice?

The wise decision inevitably includes value judgements, beliefs and feelings, as wellas thoughts. It invariably involves moral choices.Hence it is not surprising that we find that the comments we might define as wisdom

are essentially comments about the relationship between people, or their relationshipwith society, and the universe as a whole.It should not surprise us that these are relatively timeless statements.They help us provide meaning to the world about us. But what certainly surprised mewhen I started looking at this subject, was the paradoxical gap between how criticallyimportant this area was in all our lives, and yet how often it seems to be almost totallyignored in Futurist, Leadership, Strategy, or Knowledge Management literature.Another paradox is that we appear to be spending more and more time focusing onlearning knowledge, or facts, that have a relatively short shelf life, and less and lesstime on knowledge that overlaps with wisdom that has a long shelf life.Why is that? What can we do about it?

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Finally I come back to the point I made at the beginning. Why are we interested in theFuture? The answer, I believe, is that we are concerned about trying to make thingsbetter. So we need to re-ask the question why we do not spend more time to ensurethat what we have learned in the past ('wisdom') can be passed on to futuregenerations?

How do we ensure these messages are learned more effectively? These are criticalstrategy questions and are at the very foundation of anything we might what to call'The Knowledge Economy'. But what we really need to focus on is The WiseEconomy and that is the Leadership challenge for us all.

I hope I have not given the impression that I know what this illusive concept of 'wisdom' actually is? Or how we can pass it on more effectively. All I am arguing isthat we urgently need to give the whole subject of wisdom much more seriously thanhas been the case is the past. If we cannot take wisdom seriously now, we never will.And we will all pay a very high price for this neglect.

(Dr Bruce Lloyd, Professor of Strategic Management, London South Bank University, email:lloydba@lsbu.ac.uk.I have collected together an initial list of well over 3000 quotations and these areavailable on the web site of the World Future Society Wisdom of the World:www.wfs.org . (via special features).)