Wisdom

From "Don't Stop the Career Clock" (1999, pages 111, 112-114, 116-117)

"Thou shoulds't not have been old till thou hadst been wise" - King Lear, Act 1, Scene 5

Can we, will we chose to cultivate our wisdom as we age? Some insight into this trait could prove useful for us as we maneuver thorugh our new century, searching for a new way to age and add meaning to our life and work.

Reasearch on Wisdom

Surprisingly, a review of psychological material shows a neglect of the concept of wisdom. The 1996 edition of the Handbook of the Psychology of Aging (Birren and Schaie, 1996) , with a total of 416 double-columned pages, devotes only one paragraph to wisdom, calling it an ancient topie that tradidionally includes formal knowledge, moral behavior, and awareness of what one does not know. The earlier 1990 edition has one article. Another massive handbook on general psychology edited by Wolman (1973) does not index the subject, and has no mention of wisdom in its 45 chapters.

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Little research and writing have been focused on aging and wisdom, yet wisdom is considered the one characteristic aging people are supposed to have in abundance. Perhaps this silence indicates a reluctance to attribute to older adults any strong positive characteristics...

Wisdom and the Workforce

The need for wisdom is clearly demonstrated by key leaders who are moving their organizations to the twenty-first century. The editors of the Harvard Business Review (Looking Ahead, 1997) asked five powerful thinkers and observers of our business world to write about the problems and challenges they see already taking shape and moving us into the future.

The five were:

Interestingly enough, the resulting list of challenges did not include the traditional technical or rational issues: rather, it concentrated on cultural and philosophical ones, stressing the need for wisdom. The challenges were to:

• Lead organizations that create and nurture knowledge;
• Know when to set machines aside and rely on our human instinct and judgment;
• Live in a world where companies have increasingly visibility;
• Maintain, as individuals and organizations, our ability to learn;
• Meet the continuing challenge — not to technology, but the art of human and humane management.

These were the five major challenges to the business world for success currently and in the future...

For more information on wisdom or to get a copy of "Don't Stop The Career Clock in either book or audio, contact Dr. Harkness by email or by telephone at 972-278-4701.