We live in an increasingly complex world compounded by the information that inundates us daily. The majority of people in the developed world believe that knowledge is power. Yet paradoxically, they are simultaneously buried by information overload. The idea that the more we know, the better off we are –has become an anachronism. So, how can you succeed in life or business? The key is found in wisdom: information + experience + context. Wisdom is information you can actually use. In order to survive, let alone thrive in our ever changing world wisdom will be required more and more. I believe we are entering the wisdom age.
The Wisdom Age
Historically, the journey of civilization began with hunter-gatherer societies, which led to farming-herding based societies, and eventually agricultural based societies. In more recent years, the industrial revolution was the foundation for the current information age. Google and other search engines are great at facts and organizing it all for us but they do a terrible job of turning those facts into information you can actually use. So, what will supersede information?
Wisdom will surpass knowledge in the days ahead and become the most valued commodity. For wisdom is ultimately the application of knowledge; it is making the right decision to do the right thing, at the right time, in the right place. The greatest businesses and leaders will no longer be those that amass the most information and dispense facts but those that teach and guide people to develop wisdom and live wisely.
Stephen Covey is one who has spoken of this shift in an interview saying, “I’ve often called the next era the “Era of Wisdom.” He references Peter Drucker’s use of the term knowledge worker to highlight that “we were moving from an era that valued things, like machines, for what they produced into an era that values knowledge—the application of knowledge that comes in the form of skills.”
The Skills Needed for Success
Covey went on to speak of how each age has been built on the principles of preceding societies. From the work ethic in the early societies, to the principles of learning, collaboration, teamwork and efficiency of the Industrial Age to constantly learning and improving and applying new technologies in very synergistic and collaborative ways in the Technological Age.
Gladwell highlighted in his book, Theories, Predictions, and Diagnoses: Part Two from What the Dog Saw, that “Puzzles are ‘transmitter-dependent’; they turn on what we are told. Mysteries are ‘receiver dependent’; they turn on the skills of the listener.” In the knowledge age the focus is on what you are being told; who and and where you get your information from. In the wisdom age it will be about how you filter information (how you hear or see information), why you believe what you believe, and how you apply that information in your life.
Education Rich & Experience Poor
Our grandparents were experience rich and education poor. Children today are education rich and experience poor. Information is knowing about something. Experience is knowing waht that thing looks like, sounds like, tastes like, smells like and feels like. You can know how many miles it takes to drive from Seattle to San Diego. You can know how long it will take and what cities you will pass through and what the weather might be like. But Google will never fill your mind with memories and your heart with emotions: the wind in your hair, the taste of the salt in the air, the smells of the smog in the cities, the deep conversation with friends, or the freedom of driving the I-5 or the Number 1 (Highway 1) down the coast.
Imagine the possibilities and the combination of success when you are experience rich and education rich.
How can you gain more wisdom in the days ahead?How can you create a life rich in education and experiences? How can you position yourself for success, by basing your life and business on wisdom rather than knowledge?
