A wise organization makes every stakeholder better off.
Wisdom is more than expertise. A wise person makes judgments using expertise, knowledge, common sense, and spirituality. They make sense of complex situations and consider the interests of multiple constituents. Spirituality contributes to wisdom as it draws upon our inner life, creating meaning and purpose beyond material things.
A wise organization emerges when individuals within the organization are empowered to contribute their knowledge, experience and insight toward their organization’s mission and vision.
Teams that share collective wisdom execute their common mission, moving the organization to its vision. Such teams ensure the organization contributes more to its community and its world.
Leaders have the greatest impact in creating a wise organization. Their knowledge of the organization’s environment provides insights into what can or will happen and leads to decisions and actions that create positive results for every stakeholder.
To grow wisdom in others:
Help them build knowledge. Provide constant training for job expertise. Connect people with internal customers who depend on them and their internal suppliers. Help them see the contributions others make, the processes they use, their working constraints and their organizational links.
Help people see how technology, social attitudes, governments, competitors, and the environment are changing. When they can take all these into account, their wisdom leads to better decisions.
Broaden individual experience.
- Train and assign them to different roles; ones that are connected to their original position. The experience will help them consider aspects of the work and logic they hadn’t previously understood.
- Get people involved in professional organizations to draw upon a world, literally, of experience.
- Encourage volunteering, where they might discover budding social needs the organization could fulfil.
Be the example of spirituality. Share your inner life, the personal purpose for which you strive, and the meaning you extract from it. Encourage others to share, question themselves, and strive to make a difference in others’ lives.
A collection of wise leaders, individuals and teams creates a wise organization, standing out from others. It understands diverse situations, opportunities and threats, its strengths and weaknesses. Strengths become focused on opportunities; key weaknesses are removed and the organization realizes a future where every stakeholder wins.