John Bigelow

Boise State University

Management Department

1910 University Drive

Boise, Idaho 83725

(208) 385-1267 (office)

(208) 343-9113 (home)

(208) 385-3779 (FAX)

August 3, 1991

Abstract

Current university and on-the-job learning programs for managers seldom address managerial wisdom. Yet, a number of authors point to the importance of wisdom in the management of a firm. This paper identifies the changes which occur in a person as he/she becomes wiser, and presents a model of the process of becoming wise. Implications for university education and in-house development of managerial wisdom are discussed.

John D. Bigelow is currently a management professor at Boise State University. He has a BS in Physics and a Ph.D in Organizational Behavior (Case Western Reserve University). He served has served as a Peace Corps Volunteer and staff member, and has headed a low-cost science equipment invention lab. He is a member of the executive committee of the Western Academy of Management. His current research interests are in managerial skills, wisdom in organizations, and uses of microcomputers in managerial learning. He is the editor of the recently published book, "Managerial Skills: Explorations in Practical Knowledge".

"Crawford, every wary of desire, knew how badly he wanted to be wise. He knew that a middle-aged man can be so desperate for wisdom that he may try to make some up, and how deadly that can be to a youngster that believes him."

Harris, 1988, p. 192

As a management educator, I have been a longstanding advocate of incorporating skills teaching into the b-school curriculum. Yet, in working on skills curricula I have become increasingly aware that there is much more to managing than the simple exercise of various types of skills. In my attempts to better understand the trans-skills aspect of managing, I came across Jim Waters' (1980) article on skill development. In it he proposed that "wisdom" is one aspect of managerial skill development. This caught my attention because I have been working with issues of wisdom in my own life.

I began a search for more information about managerial wisdom. I reviewed a number of managerial texts, and was unable to find any reference to the topic. I extended my search to academic management journals -- and again came up empty-handed.

In the more practitioner-oriented literature, however, I found numerous references to wisdom. A number of authors point to the importance of wisdom in managing a firm; e.g., in the process of management itself (Giblin, 1984; Hurst, 1984; Lorsch and Mathias, 1987), in moving into new businesses (Littler and Sweeting,1987), in using new technologies (Van De Vliet, 1984), and in strategy formulation (Mintzberg, 1987).

This literature makes frequent use of the term "wisdom" in a number of ways. "Conventional wisdom" is often questioned; e.g., the conventional wisdom that a "play it safe" strategy will help in obtaining managerial advancement (Kirp and Rice, 1988), the conventional wisdom that only one cost system should be used for everyone (Kaplan, 1988), or the conventional wisdom that manufacturers should avoid small custom orders (Shapiro et. al, 1987). In addition, the "wisdom of" certain actions is frequently appraised; e.g., the wisdom of emphasizing measurable product characteristics to prospective buyers (Shaw et. al., 1989), the wisdom of accumulating debt during a late stage of economic recovery (Selby, 1986), or the wisdom of encouraging a high degree of executive travel (Manasian, 1988).

The importance of managerial wisdom is also implied in current criticisms of business school graduates. Some authors have suggested that these graduates are technically competent, but lack "people skills" (Porter-McKibbin, 1988; Business Week, 1988; Dertouzos et. al., 1989; Main, 1989), have difficulty in dealing with paradox and dilemma (Scott and Mitchell, 1986), and think primarily in the short term (McGill, 1988). Since wisdom is associated with the converse of all these shortcomings, all can be characterized as stemming from a lack of wisdom.

From this literature I concluded that many experienced managers recognize the importance of wisdom and that situations requiring wisdom arise regularly in business. Business schools, however, virtually ignore the topic -- and the lack of managerial wisdom in business school graduates is regarded by experienced managers as an important omission.

My purpose in writing this paper is to help rectify this omission by exploring how wisdom is developed. I begin by identifying a number of changes associated with increasing wisdom, which I then organize into a developmental model. I then discuss implications for university education and in-house development of managerial wisdom.

What are the changes which occur in a person as he/she becomes wiser? In answering this question, I draw on two wisdom sources. The first is scholarly studies of wisdom. The second is what I will call the "wisdom literature". This consists of a number of collections of sayings, edited by Franklin, White, Tripp, Huia, and others.

I draw on the wisdom literature because I think that it collectively expresses many of the insights associated with gaining wisdom. Advocates of the scientific method will find this literature difficult to learn from, since the sayings are diverse, subjectively derived, and difficult -- perhaps impossible -- to empirically verify. This is perhaps one reason that social scientists have largely ignored the topic. The careful thinker will view these collections not as established learnings, but as containing credible hypotheses derived from the experience of others. In this respect they are quite similar to the hypotheses proposed by March and Simon (1958). Thus, to the extent sayings can be found which support scholarly studies which derive their findings using other means, the credibility of both is increased.

The notion of developing wisdom carries with it a fundamental assumption that people are not wise to start with. Further there is a recognition that some people do not gain wisdom. Before considering wisdom's development, then, let's consider what the absence of wisdom looks like.

A person who is past the age of innocence and is beginning to act as an autonomous being (i.e., to set objectives and determine how to attain them) comprises the starting point on the path to wisdom. Such a person is perhaps 15-18 years of age or older, has had little experience or advanced education, and may be thought of as "lacking" wisdom (Holliday and Chandler, 1986, p. 63). However such a negative definition seems unsatisfying. In other respects the person brings a great deal to situations, since he/she has assimilated much implicit knowledge in the form of "common sense" (Schweiso, 1984; Kekes, 1983, p. 278), including a set of shared fundamental assumptions, cultural maxims, shared beliefs, and ways of thinking (Fletcher, 1984). The person may be vigorous, intelligent, creative, technically competent, quick, capable of heroism -- and still not wise.

What distinguishes a person at this stage is the way he/she appraises situations and formulates action strategies. At least in Western cultures this person is likely to initially see him/herself as an individual and as independent of his/her context. He/she tends to set goals aimed primarily at furthering short term personal gratification. A basic premise at this point (again, at least in Western cultures) seems to be that one's well-being is contingent on circumstances. Thus the person tends to place primacy on goals which seem to improve the person's circumstances; e.g. promotion, salary, recognition, and possessions.

Koplowitz's (1984) description of the "pre-logical" person is suggestive of a person at this stage. He suggests that such a person will: (a) see a state of affairs only as the consequence of the immediately preceding state, (b) see a situation as a set of unrelated variables, (c) tend to blame others for problems, (d) seek solutions through change in others, (e) respond only emotionally, not logically, to statements, (f) be unable to separate form from content (i.e., abstract from concrete), and (g) set closed boundaries around problem areas.

In wisdom literature this type of person is often referred to as a "fool" -- though the term is not used as perjoratively as common usage implies -- or sometimes as a "youth":

"None but a fool worries about things he cannot influence."

SAMUEL JOHNSON (White, 1987, p. 54)

"A fool shines so long as he keeps silent."

HINDU PROVERB (Sethi, 1962, p. 12)

"Yesterday's young hero who rode his bike 'no hands' to impress his girl is today the executive submitting a 50-page proposal entitled 'A Comprehensive plan for Implementation of Participating Management with Particular Attention to Line-Staff Interface'."

WILLIAM PENZER (White, 1987, p. 162)

The activities in which people at this stage engage are sometimes called "folly":

"Answer a fool according to his folly."

LAROCHEFOUCAULD (Henry, 1961, p. 83)

"What is life but a series of inspired follies? The difficulty is to find them to do."

George Bernard Shaw (Tripp, 1970, p. 352)

The naive person is not a blank slate then, but person at a certain state of development, with some ability deal with life. The development of wisdom may be thought of as changes which occur in previously naive people which deepen their understanding of, and ability to live, life. Below I describe five major changes associated with increasing wisdom.

The naive person begins to find that strategies of short-term gratification may in the longer term lead to greater personal deficits than benefits. Platt (1964) identifies two key ways that this can occur: The first is "traps", or activities leading to short term reward but which also lead to stronger long term punishments. For example, a short term perspective might lead to a choice of easy activities over difficult ones. In the longer term, however, this orientation limits goal accomplishment. Thus, wisdom literature warns:

"A friend may be judged in adversity; a hero in war; an honest man in money-lending; a wife in poverty; and a relative in trouble."

HINDU PROVERB (Sethi, 1962, p. 18)

"Lazy people have no spare time."

JAPANESE PROVERB (White, 1987, p. 258)

Wisdom literature is full of warnings about traps; e.g., anger, arrogance, cruelty, fear, flattery, hypocrisy, idleness, etc.

The second way short term gratification can fail is because of "walls", or activities which are experienced as punishing in the short term but which also lead to stronger long term rewards. For example, a short term perspective may not favor the expression of respect to others. However, in the long term this can lead to impaired relations with others. So we see in the wisdom literature:

"If you have some respect for people as they are, you can be more effective in helping them to become better than they are."

JOHN W. GARDNER (White, 1987, p. 95)

"Man is still a savage to the extent that he has little respect for anything that cannot hurt him."

EDGAR WATSON HOWE (Tripp, 1970, p. 802)

As with traps, wisdom literature points to the existence of many "wall" opportunities; e.g., concerning calmness, cheerfulness, economy, forbearance, generosity, patience, etc.

In sum, a person encounters situations in which a longer term strategy is more effective than a short term one in obtaining rewards, and learns to use longer-term strategies. The person's goals may still focus on self-gratification, but he/she adopts longer-term and less direct strategies to accomplish them.

As the person accumulates experience so does he/she become exposed to the possibility of learning from this experience. In discussing managerial skill development, Waters (1980) suggests that "Wisdom is acquired and displayed over long time intervals." (p. 452). Surveys of individual perceptions of wisdom suggest that the view of wisdom as knowledge acquired through experience is a common one (Johnson, 1979; Sternberg, 1985).

The mechanisms for learning seem to be twofold. The first involves experiencing of particular kinds of situations and reflecting on what happened. McCall et. al. (1988) point out that learning from experience can involve an active process of seeking particular kinds of experience, as well as a passive process of reflecting on what has happened. They suggest that challenge is important, as well as timing, or relevance to what the person wanted to accomplish. They mention disconfirming experiences such as making mistakes, dealing with problem subordinates, traumatic events, and career setbacks as particularly important for learning. A number of authors suggest that mid- to late life events such as midlife crisis (Hall and Lindzey, 1957; Erikson, 1964; Jacques 1965; Erikson, 1982), the crisis of integrity vs. despair (Erikson, 1964, reminiscence (Butler, 1963), or the subsiding of youthful fires (Richman, 1977) can advance wisdom.

A second mechanism for learning from experience involves vicarious learning from the example and counsel of others (Campbell, 1965), though some wisdom literature counsels to be cautious in learning from others' advice. Such advice may facilitate learning from experience -- perhaps by serving as hypotheses to try out. Advice in itself, however, is not a substitute for experience in the learning process.

Clayton (1977), however, provides evidence that people do not necessarily become wiser as time goes on. This suggests that while experience is a necessary condition for developing wisdom, it is not a sufficient condition. The implication is that there exist skills, personality characteristics, and/or situational dynamics which can enhance or inhibit the process of becoming wiser.

The wisdom literature contains many references to the importance of learning from experience:

"Experience keeps a dear school. Yet Fools will learn in no other."

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1737)

"Life is a succession of lessons, which must be lived to be understood."

EMERSON (Tripp, 1970, p. 319)

"Constant success shows us but one side of the world; adversity brings out the reverse of the picture."

CHARLES COLTON (White, 1987, p. 271)

"Wisdom is ofttimes nearer when we stop than when we soar."

WORDSWORTH (Anonymous 1954, p. 78)

Clayton (1982) suggests that wisdom has largely to do with knowledge of human nature. In practice this might be better termed "practical knowledge" (Collins, 1962), which includes not only a greater depth and range of understanding of human events, but also the ability to interpret situations, choose from a repertoire of possible responses, and to implement a chosen response skillfully. Other authors identify other changes in knowledge, including not only a shift to a longer term perspective discussed earlier, but also increased self-awareness and a more unitary or holistic perception of situations (McWhinney, 1982; Kramer, 1983; Koplowitz, 1984; Kramer, 1987).

The wisdom literature contains a multitude of references to human events and their interpretation; e.g., the nature of people, management, work, meetings, etc. For example:

"Mistrust a subordinate who never finds fault with his superior."

JOHN CHURTON COLLINS (White, 1987, p. 89)

"In a different time, in a different place, it is always some other side of our common human nature that has been developing itself. The actual true is the sum of all these."

THOMAS CARLYLE (Tripp, 1980, p. 431)

"Open meetings often reveal a lot of closed minds."

JOE BROWNE (White, 1987, p. 180)

"Men in general are but great children."

NAPOLEON (Henry, 1961, p. 143)

With reference to self-understanding:

"Flattery is all right -- if you don't inhale."

ADALAI STEVENSON (White, 1987, p. 89)

"He who knows others is learned; He who knows himself is wise."

LAO-TZE (Henry, 1961, p. 124)

Some scholars suggest that the essence of wisdom lies not simply in a person's knowledge, but in the person's "meta-awareness" of knowledge and its limitations, and the corresponding ability to deal with ill-defined problems. Clayton (1975; 1982) associates wisdom with the ability to grasp and reconcile the paradoxes, changes, and contradictions of human nature. In a similar vein, Dittman-Kohli (1984) associates wisdom with knowledge-based action to resolve ill-defined problems. Dittman-Kohli and Baltes (1989) associate wisdom with expertise involving good judgement and advice involving fundamental pragmatics of life. Meacham (1983) associates wisdom with a recognition of limits of person's particular knowledge -- and a tolerance of the resultant ambiguity. Kitchner (1983) proposes that wisdom is associated with "epistemic cognition", in which "..individuals reflect on the limits of knowing, the certainty of knowing, and criteria of knowing" (p. 222). Taranto (1989) broadens this theme by suggesting that wisdom involves a recognition of and response to human limitation in general.

The wisdom literature contains numerous references to the types of knowledge limitations discussed here:

"Tim was so learned that he could name a Horse in nine Languages. So ignorant, that he bought a Cow to ride on.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1737)

"The trouble with facts is that there are so many of them."

SAMUEL CROTHERS (White, 1987, p. 130)

"Strange how much you've got to know before you know how little you know."

ANONYMOUS (Henry, 1961, p. 124)

Learning about the limits of knowledge probably occurs only after an extended period of knowledge expansion, which takes on the quality of a "koan" (meaning here that increasing one's knowledge decreases one's ability to deal with situations). At this point the person may increasingly turn his/her attention to issues of managing knowledge itself, and ultimately recognize the essential limits of knowledge as a basis for directing one's life. For example, the person may recognize that some situations are better experienced intuitively, without the lens of any cognitive interpretation (Quick, 1981).

Recognizing the limits of knowledge can have the nature of a crisis, since one possible response is "abject skepticism" (Kitchener, 1983, p. 229), a sense of relativism and difficulty in decision-making, or a sense that "there is no right answer", and that therefore it matters not what choice one makes. Wise people seem to be able to resolve or somehow bypass this crisis. As Kekes (1983) points out, wise people seem not only able to tolerate uncertainty and limits of knowledge, but also to act effectively in poorly defined circumstances.

As a person moves through life, events may lead to changes in the person's basic valuation; that is, the person's basic sense of self and "what's important" may change. As discussed earlier, a person may initially see self as independent of situation and focus on external changes as the primary focus of goal accomplishment. As the person begins to see the connectedness of things, this perception of "self as independent" may shift toward "self as part" of the larger situation. Kohlberg's stages of moral development from self-interest to social cooperation provide insight into specific shifts which may occur in the person's reasoning during this change (c.f. Conry and Nelson, 1989). In addition, the person may increasingly recognize that successes in controlling his/her situation do not necessarily bring the hoped-for results. At this point the person's focus may move towards increasing "interiority" (Neugarten, 1973), towards the accomplishment of desired internal affective states (e.g., joy, peace of mind, contentment) and towards desirable relationships (e.g., friends, congruence) as primary values. Since the person's sense of self is now more extensive, the person's energies will be directed on behalf of the larger context and others.

This value shift is reflected in common opinions which support the image of a wise person as acting on behalf of the larger whole, integrative, and peaceful (Clayton, 1977; Johnson, 1979; Sternberg, 1985; Holliday and Chandler, 1986).

Much of the wisdom literature points to "what is important":

"There is no riches above a sound body, and no joy above the joy of the heart."

ECCLESIASTICUS (Anonymous, 1954)

"Happiness consists in the multiplicity of agreeable consciousness".

DR. JOHNSON (Anonymous, 1954)

"Recommend to your children virtue; that alone can make them happy, not gold."

BEETHOVEN (Henry, 1961, p. 239)

"He that's content hath enough."

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1737)

In Figure 1 I present the kinds of changes which may occur as a person increases in wisdom.

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Insert Figure 1 about here

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I see two types of change occurring. First, the person's practical knowledge expands and differentiates. The person's initial reliance on a partially assimilated body of common sense and a short-term view expands to a broader insight into human events, including a longer-term outlook, increased self-awareness, and a more holistic view. In addition the person develops two meta-cognitive processes, one concerning management of knowledge and its associated limitations, uncertainties, and contradictions. The other process concerns seeking and learning from experiences. The second type of change involves the image of self, which changes from the self as independent and concerned with external goals, to the self as part of a larger system and concerned with more basic and internal goals.

I have arranged these aspects of wisdom into a three level hierarchy. The lowest level represents practical knowledge; the second represents two meta-cognitive processes which manage practical knowledge; the third represents a self-image and set of basic valuations which influences the two lower levels.

I would like to stress three points about this model:

1. Wisdom is "being", not "having". Wisdom does not consist of accumulating knowledge or knowing about the values/orientations of wise people. It is entirely possible for a person to "know" wisdom principles and even believe he/she "ought" to be using them, but in practice to exercise a different "theory in practice" (Argyris and Schon, 1977). Kekes (1983, p. 283) points out that a saying can be a wise reminder from one person and a platitude from another. For a platitude to become wisdom, it must take the place of less wise operations in the person.

2. The question of ordering is not resolved. If wisdom development involves these four types of changes, is there any predictable order in which development occurs? One might expect learning to occur more rapidly at the level of practical knowledge, since it is closer to action, and therefore to verification. Conversely one might expect changes in meta-cognitive processes and values/orientations to occur more slowly, since their relation to success or failure is less direct. There is little evidence concerning order of development. It seems plausible that development occurs concurrently at all levels, though relatively more slowly at higher levels.

3. Wisdom is to some extent context-specific. A person becomes wise in a specific set of life circumstances; e.g., in a particular cultural setting and corporate role. The wisdom thereby gained, especially the practical knowledge, may or may not transfer to other life settings, cultures, or even to later times in the same setting. For example Baida (1986, p. 99) points out that Benjamin Franklin's views would be regarded as "the lowest form of avarice" in ancient times and the middle ages.

The model shown in Figure 1 was developed on the basis of wisdom research and the wisdom literature. While business and managerial wisdom are a part of this literature, the question can still be raised as to whether the process of becoming a wise manager is similar to the process of becoming wise in other contexts.

McCall et. al. (1988) provide some evidence pertaining to this question in their study of what managers learn from experience over an extended period of time. They identify 32 "lessons of experience". I examined this list of lessons and where possible matched the major qualities of each item with elements of Figure 1. Most lessons of experience did seem to fit with some part of Figure 1 -- with two exceptions.

The first lesson of experience which did not match with Figure 1 was technical/professional skills. This is not surprising, since technical ability is not commonly associated with wisdom. It is also consistent with the research cited earlier which associates wisdom with knowledge of human events and their associated paradoxes and contradictions -- not with the relatively uncontradictive and convergent logic typical of technical disciplines.

Interestingly, the second lesson which did not match was creativity. While I found no evidence suggesting that wise people are not creative, it does seem that increases in wisdom are not necessarily correlated with increases in creativity. In a study of implicit theories of intelligence, wisdom and creativity, Sternberg (1985) found low correlations between wisdom and creativity. He commented:

"Whereas the wise person is perceived to be a conserver of worldly experience, the creative person is perceived to be a defier of such experience". (p. 623)

In sum, McCall's findings seem to support the notion that the lessons of executive experience are quite consistent with the types of learning associated with wisdom in other contexts. This suggests that the findings of broader research into wisdom should have some relevance for the development of managerial wisdom.

What implications does the above discussion have for developing managerial wisdom? The findings strongly suggest that vicarious learning of the kind which normally occurs in the classroom is generally not effective in gaining wisdom; rather, it points to extended experience as the essential vehicle we know for becoming wise. This does not bode well for those hoping to shoehorn wisdom into a university course or executive workshop! However the findings also suggest that: (a) some experiences provide more potential for learning than others, (b) that people may learn much or little, even having experienced a potentially learningful situation, and (c) that people may actively seek out learning situations and become "wise beyond their years", and (d) universities may facilitate wisdom simply by less actively obstructing its attainment. Below, I offer a number of suggestions about what might be done to create learningful experiences and to increase the likelihood that wisdom will be enhanced by them. These suggestions should be relevant for both university and in-company learning.

Wisdom seems to be a scarce resource (Clayton 1977). It makes sense to think of channeling those with demonstrated wisdom capacity towards the business positions in which wisdom is most needed. But how can wisdom be recognized? This can be a tricky question since, as Kekes (1983) points out, a fool can learn to say all the things a wise person can, and to say them on the same occasions. In a study of how people construe wisdom, Holliday and Chandler (1986, pp 79-80) found that peoples' concepts of wisdom included: exceptional understanding of ordinary experience, judgement and communication skills, general competencies (including alertness, intelligence, curiosity, creativity, the ability to evaluate information, and thoughtfulness), interpersonal skills, and social unobtrusiveness. Meacham (1983) distinguishes the wise from the unwise in that the wise: apply facts to real-life situations, excel at asking questions, deny being wise, and become wise through a decrease in knowledge and/or corresponding increase in doubts and uncertainties. These attributes may be helpful when attempting to infer the status of a person's wisdom.

Given that reliable measures of wisdom do not yet exist (Sternberg, 1985), it does seem possible nonetheless to gauge the wisdom of a candidate through interview, problem-solving behavior in a complex and ambiguous situation, and discussion of learning from past experiences. Hopefully a wise person will be overseeing this screening process.

As pointed out earlier, wisdom lies in what the person is, not in what he/she knows. Grover and Weiss (1987) outline a management course in which students start by articulating their working theories of managing people in formal organizations. They then appraise these theories in light of other management information and develop ways of testing and refining their theories. In a similar way, students could investigate their current wisdom status, perhaps by working through managerial cases and comparing their actions and thoughts with those of wiser managers. This self-knowledge can serve as a starting point in which students' current orientations are made explicit and investigated for adequacy.

Other management teachers may object that such a design in a management course would require too much individual attention, would be difficult to assess, and would would not ensure that the student would be acquainted with the considerable body of management knowledge. These observations are quite likely accurate, and reflect the difference in goals of a traditional management course (learning a body of managerial knowledge) and a wisdom-oriented course (developing attributes of a wise manager). The resolution of these objections, then, lies more in discussion of goals and priorities, rather than discussion of pedagogical effectiveness.

The learning situations provided should have the essential qualities of situations in which wisdom is required. This may include complexity, long-term events, human dynamics, ambiguity, uncertainty, contradictions, or even koan-like properties. In a

course setting, Waters (1980) suggests analysis of histories, biographies, and business cases. Westin and Aram (1988) provides cases in which managerial dilemmas are explicitly included. Students may investigate how their own thinking processes lead to the creation of contradiction and paradox, and how changes in thinking can resolve them (Dimond, 1980; Conry and Nelson, 1989). If cases are used, it may be helpful to ask the person to take the role of someone in the case and to take action within the context of that role; e.g., a report to a superior. This personal involvement increases the practical knowledge required to deal with the case (as opposed to recommending an action). In a business setting, job assignments can be highly effective, for the same reason.

McCall et. al. (1988, pp. 58-60) identify four core elements of developmental assignments: the necessity of learning new skills on the run, playing for high stakes, working with trying people in trying times, and physical strain. To me, these elements combine to create situations where the possibility of success and failure are possible and important. In particular, failure seems particularly important in managerial learning (Maidique and Zirger, 1985). Courses in which "everyone wins" are not likely to increase wisdom, because they do not challenge the person's current way of seeing and doing. However, the stakes should not be too high or the prospect of failure too threatening, since this may rigidify peoples' approaches and make it difficult for them to learn from success or failure. A high stakes situation is analogous to subsistence farming, in which the farmer resists technological advance because of the risk that yield will fall -- even temporarily -- past starvation levels. Courses should be designed so that failure is seen as a part of the learning process, yet does not remove the person from the learning arena.

Finally, to the greatest extent possible the person should be involved in the creation and design of the learning experiences. This may be helpful in two ways: first, the person may be "ready" for certain experiences and know which he/she is most likely to benefit from. Second, this participation can be helpful in teaching the person how to manage his/her own learning process.

As the person goes through learning experiences, the process of learning from experience can be facilitated. Most directly, the person could be requested to prepare a report on "What I learned" or "How I changed" at strategic points. Wise role models can be helpful, if they can be found. For example, top executives near retirement can be used as consultants (Kelley, 1979), and retired executives can be brought back to pass on wisdom (Dreyfuss, 1983). This process of wisdom transmission can occur at lower levels as well (Neilsen and Gypen, 1979). These people could also be invited to participate in university courses. Very often, however, such people are inarticulate about what they know, and are more effective as models, mentors, or counselors than as lecturers.

Wisdom literature can be made available, and can be helpful as a set of hypotheses which can reduce "search time" as a person is trying to make sense of his/her experience. Leifer and Carrier (1987) report success in a course using aphorisms, but no lectures. In addition, students developed their own aphorisms to describe successful management.

One aspect of facilitating learning from experience is to be aware when a person is having difficulty. Sometimes people develop "self-sealing" explanations of their failures (Argyris and Schon, 1977) . For example, a person who has been successful in the traditional classroom setting may not recognize when a problem is not subject to a "rational" solution, and interpret failure as a lack of sufficient knowledge. Another possibility is that a person may interpret failure as evidence of personal inadequacy, and attempt to withdraw. The facilitator needs to be aware of these and many other possibilities, and be able to facilitate the learner's reperception of what's going on.

Holliday and Chandler (1986) suggest that while the wise person possesses technical, practical, and emancipatory knowledge, our educational institutions stress only the former. Thus a high proportion of classroom experiences is likely to involve learning to apply a method to obtain a correct solution. This kind of situation and focus is not likely to increase wisdom.

In a 1983 paper I suggested that the traditional design of educational institutions reinforces passivity, rationality, and a non-collaborative orientation in students. Were the recommendations of this section carried out in such an institution, the student would find him/herself in two levels of situational learning, each leading to different conclusions. Clearly the impact of wisdom learning can be increased if the experiences in the larger context reinforce that of the classroom context.

There are some compelling reasons why learning institutions are as they are. Without attempting to analyze the larger educational setting, here are some specific suggestions for a learning institution desirous of enhancing the wisdom value of the experience:

a) Specifically state wisdom goals so that all may know they are legitimate.

b) Cast the learner in a larger role, as a part of a learning group, a partner in learning, a designer of learning experiences, and a creator of "learnables".

c) When dealing with technical knowledge, encourage extension to application in realistic situations. For example in accounting, move eventually to issues of implementation of an accounting system.

d) Move away from the design of learning as a series of relatively independent short term events ("take the course then sell the text") and consider longer term learning accomplishments.

e) Encourage the use of wisdom as a criterion in considering teachers and other role models.

f) Specifically include courses which deal with practical and emancipatory knowledge (Holliday and Chandler, 1986).

6. Specifically address the learner's sense of self.

Figure 1 shows shifts in the person's valuation and sense of self as a part of wisdom development. I had suggested earlier that this aspect of the person may be the slowest to change because of its less direct relation to success or failure in experiences. Presumably a person changes at this level after repeated failures make it clear that the person's practical knowledge is not at fault. For example, only after succeeding in one's career might one then begin to question if material gains bring happiness. Clearly more needs to be known about how changes occur at this level.

To my knowledge, very little is done in universities to challenge a person's sense of self. We live in a society which is inclined to reinforce the biological entity perception of self. Our universities are consistent in that they reinforce the student as individual, and learning as individual cognitive mastery. In this sense, universities may inadvertently obstruct development of wisdom, even while seeking to further scholastic excellence.

Perhaps one way to address definition of self would be to provide cases in which a manager is not independent observer of the situation -- a stance often taken in cases -- but very much a part of it. The manager's role can be cast as an interdependent one, in which the manager not only helps, but is in some senses a professional help seeker. By learning to see managers in this light, students may become more susceptible to seeing themselves in a similar way.

Another approach may be via self-awareness, a common topic in managerial skills courses. To the extent students become aware of their strengths and weaknesses, they can then begin thinking about how they can best capitalize on their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses through planned interdependencies.

Conclusion

In this paper I have identified changes associated with increasing wisdom, proposed a model of wisdom development, and made some suggestions for developing managerial wisdom. The changes associated with wisdom are complex and deep. If they occur at all, they require lengthy exposure to and learning from experience. The end result is difficult to assess or recognize. There are many important questions about wisdom which we cannot at present answer. Is it necessary to start as a "fool"? Does the common sense of different cultures affect this starting point? What motivates the development of wisdom? How does evolving wisdom unfold? Are there waypoints on the way? What kind of wisdom transcends culture?

Despite our current limited knowledge about wisdom, however, we can take steps to facilitate the development of managerial wisdom. Like Crawford in the opening quote, I have developed a strong interest in seeking wisdom. I hope my deliberations will be helpful to others with similar interests.