What Box?^®

In the centuries prior to the spread of American Culture our elders were considered to be the wisest and most respected people in the communities in which they lived. They were revered for their knowledge and wisdom, wisdom gained through the experiences of many years living on the earth. Their achievements were understood as an outcome of what they had learned from experiences that they lived through during their lives. These wise elders were sought after by people in their communities in order that others would learn from them. This way they would be less likely to make the same mistakes the elders had made or “reinvent the wheel.”

“A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study.”
Chinese Proverb

What happened along the way to progress?

Today we tend to retire the oldest and wisest people in our communities to human dumpsites like the ones you find in Florida, you know, the high-rise retirement living communities. In Los Angeles they have retirement communities called Leisure Land, or as my Grand Father used to call it Seizure Land. When many people hit fifty today and find that their lives are winding down, their goal becomes to retire and to do as little as possible. Worse yet many families consider their elders to be burdens and put them into rest homes where they actually waste away as they lose meaning for their lives.

Businesses looking for the latest and greatest talent rarely look towards their fifty to sixty year old candidates. In many cases it is thought that they might come with too much baggage and would not be capable of thinking on the innovative level that a business needs to be competitive. Culturally there is a difference between generations, quite possibly more than ever before. However the one thing that these wise people of age have over their younger counterparts is wisdom, wisdom that has been honed over years of trial and error, education, and experimentation.

So how does one gain wisdom?

It takes time, or what I like to call the ongoing “School of Hard Knocks.” Wisdom is developed through a lifetime of experience, insight, reflection, the recognition of truth, and the ability to exercising good judgment. People with an especially well developed form of common sense are also considered to be wise. Many psychologists regard wisdom to be different from the cognitive abilities measured by standardized intelligence tests. Wisdom is generally considered to be a trait that can be developed by experience, and not taught.

“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.” Mark Twain

Each day we lose people with great wisdom who have moved into the later years of their lives, people who are not considered to have any relevant value in our evolving world. With over half the working population up for retirement in the next five years it becomes important for us to re-think our relationship with our elders, the wise people of our society.

Our American Culture has limited the value and importance of wisdom. In particular, we put wisdom and intuition in same right brain bucket, which is not easy to explain or understand. Logic and the left-brain are the standard for our culture. It is just easier to understand and explain. This is one of the reasons why breaking out-of-the-box is such a great challenge for people. The acquisition of wisdom is actually taught out of us during our traditional school days, and then only perpetuated as we continue down our career paths. People who are able to embrace their intuition and apply the wisdom they have learned are the exception, not the rule, and in general they are in high demand.

How different would our world be if we were using wisdom with the decisions that are being made today, decisions that affect us not only locally, but also globally? Wisdom is a sense, an ability to foresee the consequences of decisions that are being made today. Wisdom looks towards increasing the positive long-term impact of our decisions and how they can contribute to the common good of society. With globalization and technological advances happening at an ever-increasing rate, more than ever we need to leverage our ability to acquire and use wisdom to help guide us into the future.

“I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be.” Thomas Jefferson

Gaining wisdom can be painful, because it usually means that we are learning experientially. Some of the most powerful wisdom is gained by overcoming challenging and difficult situations. The benefits of either gaining wisdom on your own or gaining it through our elders is a great differentiator in today’s highly competitive world.

Now more than ever we need to harness the power of self taught wisdom and the wisdom that has been gained by others. We all have the ability to expand our wisdom as we go through life and we learn from our experiences. When you have wisdom you have power; the power to make better decisions, the power to help others, the power to reach your full potential, and the power to avoid difficulties, because you are able to foresee outcomes.

How are you leveraging your wisdom and that of the people you know?

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create.