======

“If you don’t know history, you don’t know anything. You’re a leaf that doesn’t know it’s part of a tree.” – Michael Crichton

—-

“History is not, of course, a cookbook offering pretested recipes. It teaches by analogy, not by maxims.” – Henry Kissinger

—–

So. Studying history, and using what you have learned, is a tricky challenge. Often we study history, and the past, so that we can “not make the same mistakes.” Well. The attempt is one of valor <and good intentions>, but most actions using historical learning are misused <as they are misguided>.

Henry Kissinger actually said it the best:

“The study of history offers no manual of instructions that can be applied automatically: history teaches by analogy, shedding light on likely consequences of comparable situations. But each generation must determine for itself which circumstances are in fact comparable.”

Let me be clear. Studying history is always good <that is a Bruce postulate>. It is how you use what you learned studying history that is the issue.

Too often people want to use historical “learning” as a literal guide for what to do now or in the future.

You cannot.

Sorry.

But you can’t.

I do not care if we are talking about business, life or economics.

You cannot <I apologize for repeating myself>.

Hank Kissinger, discussing Foreign Policy, actually walks us through a nice way to think about this.

Intellectuals analyze systems & situations while statesmen build them.

And therein lays a vast difference between the analyst and the statesman. The analyst can choose what problem he wishes to study whereas the statesman’s problems are imposed upon him. The analyst can allot whatever time is necessary to come to a clear conclusion while the overwhelming challenge of a statesman is time. The analysts runs no, or little, risk. If the conclusions prove wrong he can rewrite and reanalyze. The statesman is permitted only one guess and his mistakes are irretrievable.

Sure. Typically the future is simply a version of the past. But what makes it challenging is that what appear to be superficial changes, that sometimes make it easily recognizable, are the things that transform situations into unrecognizable changed situations. Yeah. Not all variations are created equal. In addition, we tend to ignore the ‘collection of people’ variable <I will explain later>.

In the end? We use the past, we implement something, and invariably wonder what the hell happened <and why we didn’t learn from history> when it didn’t turn out as planned.

Well. Reminder. History teaches by analogy, not identity.

Unfortunately this means that the lessons of history are never automatically replicable.

This is mostly because the lessons are apprehended only by a standard which admits the significance of a range of experience, that the answers we obtain will never be better than the questions we pose.

Now. I do believe no significant decisions are possible without at least an awareness of the historical context.

For everything exists in time more than they do in a moment in time. What I mean by that is an explanation of ‘context.’ You may not be able to completely replicate the exact time, place, situation and experiences of any & all affecting what you are studying <or even replicate a majority of those variables/variations> however you can gain a sense of choices that were available and choices made. This is contextual learning or what some people call ‘sensemaking.’

Because people forget that what they are studying is a given moment which is simply a situation where it is not only a reflection of a collection of individuals <and their experiences>, but that situation also achieves a unique identity through the consciousness of a common history <those individuals are studying that particular moment colored by,or driven, by perceptions of beliefs of that time. or, the universe shapes us as much as we shape the universe>.

It is not often that we actually learn something ‘to use’ from the past and it is even rarer that we draw the correct conclusions from it.

Why?

The lessons of history <and Life experiences also> are contingent.

That means they teach the consequences of certain actions, but they cannot force a recognition of comparable situations.

Well. That is a BIG thought right there. One that many of us should think about more often.

Let me translate <for my own pea like brain>.

History is contingent upon a series of factors and to make it exponentially more difficult it is contingent upon a continuum <horizontally> as well as simultaneously <vertically>. In other words, patterns move across various layers as well as within a layer.

Yikes.

That means exactly replicating the situation in which you are ‘learning from’ is, well, dubious. The variations and variables almost seem limitless <try pointing that out in your next business meeting when someone says “what did we learn from past experience”>. Oh. Gosh. Doesn’t that kind of make you rethink every business book you have ever read?

Regardless.

History is just that — history. A series of factors & variables all aligned for one moment in time <vertically & horizontally>. Therefore change is not only the constant, but it also possibly represents the only legitimate path to progress. I say that to suggest that change may actually freedom from the past.

And to suggest that history, when one decides to live it and not learn from it, can cage you.

I know.

Learning to break free from the history that holds no value <or decreases value> is difficult. It is easier to simply use it as a handbook of ‘what to do.’ But if we truly seek to learn <and teach> we cannot be subjugated to history. If we truly seek to be better than what we already are, we cannot do simply as history ‘dictates.’

This makes ‘better’ a but tough because most people feel most comfortable mostly remaking things in the image of historical learning.

The corollary to that thought is in order to remake things better we have to be uncomfortable.

I believe what I just wrote will make a boatload of people very uncomfortable. Why? Well. This kind of thinking can drive you crazy particularly if you want to simply study and create conclusions <rather than hypotheses>.

So. The how do most people, and businesses, get around this type of thinking?

They suggest that they have isolated the most important variables and can draw a correlation to the current situation, draw some conclusive conclusions, and isolate the best plan of action <and offer predictive results>.

Well. They are nuts <if not crackpots or liars>. I do not doubt 99% of the intent of these people, but they are still wrong. History provides context not analogy. Now people <in general> do not like that. It makes them feel uncomfortable. They want to know unequivocally that they will not be ‘making the mistakes of the past.’ Sorry. Can’t happen. You may be able to reduce the odds, but cannot unequivocally guarantee it. Oops. Big trouble in the working world if you say shit like that.

But it is Truth. Truth in a business world. Truth in Life.

Another truth? <and something that most people will also feel uncomfortable with>

Studying history will make the in-the-moment decision better. I did not say “using history to make the decision”, but rather “people who have studied history will better be able to CREATE a unique decision in the moment.” Yup. I used the dreaded ‘unique’ word. Most decisions are discreet <unique to the moment>. That makes people feel very very <very> uncomfortable.

** note: “unique” does not have to be in totality but rather the decision will have some unique aspects/features to make it more malleable to the context within which it must exist and thrive.

Regardless. It is a Life truth.

In the end?

“Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought.”

Basho

Well.

That is a nice uncomfortable thought to end on. Ponder.

=====

originally posted March 2013

====

“Uncertainty is a bitch.”

Anonymous

=============

 “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, not the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”

Charles Darwin

=================

On November 18^th 2009 I wrote these words:

Welcome to Enlightened Conflict.

It was my 1st post. I suggested the site would do 3 things for readers:

• make you think
• communicate the effectiveness, and power, of words
• may learn, and unlearn, some things

All I really believe I have done is write about uncertainty and uncertain things <albeit couched in a variety of topics and opinions>.

Over time, writing and thinking, I have learned one thing for sure — uncertainty truly is a real bastard. It encourages an inability to choose, a lack of clarity or evidence to a foreseeable outcome and throws in a nice dose of ‘little to be hopeful for’ because of that indiscernible future and some shit to fear the possibility of.

In other words. It creates a suspicion that the future just may not be the one you were hoping for.

That said.

Today I will talk a little about what I perceive as a unique time, at least in our lifetime. It is a point in which general uncertainty is colliding with personal uncertainty which is colliding with leadership uncertainty.

Why is this unique?

Well.

This uncomfortable alignment rarely happens.

We may have some personal uncertainty, but we look to our leaders and they offer some sense of certainty. Or maybe we have some leadership uncertainty, but we feel good about ourselves and have a sense of certainty just do what you know is right.

You get the point.

Now. Far too often, I included, we suggest that uncertainty is just about a test in character. But today, in the present, this is becoming a test in skill, competency, abilities and, yes, character. We will be tested on all fronts – inside ourselves as well as outside ourselves. We will need to decide what we are truly good, if not great, at and either stand aside and let someone else do what needs to be done or permit ourselves to accept that it just ain’t gonna happen the way we wish it would happen. That is a test on all fronts not just character.

Regardless. I truly believe this is a moment. A moment in which uncertainty reigns. A moment within the ‘tide of the affairs of men. ‘

 Within my 1^st 5 posts, on December 5^th 2009, I shared this:

—————

There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.

William Shakespeare

========

This quote is a reminder that opportunities in life are fleeting, but there are many — if you pay attention. And, yes, I do think it is nice to remind yourself there are many opportunities ebbing and flowing in front of us <because then you stop dwelling on regrets>. But I imagine my point today is that while we should seek these tides and be aware they exist and be aware that sometimes the tide in the affairs is thrust upon us.

I feel like that last thought better reflects the uncertain moment we live in presently.

To help me I pulled out my battered copy of Hayakawa’s “Use the Right Word” trying to find the right words and on page 550 there it was – significant. Synonyms for significant are listed as  consequential, grave, important, momentous, serious, vital and weighty.

These are the words we use to refer to factors, and moments, that are outstanding, crucial or that have considerable force or effect. The word ‘significant’ itself suggests something that is outstanding because it is especially meaningful or excellent; no urgency or forcefulness is necessarily suggested by the word — its impact is set in stone and solid. The power of the individual word is that it contains, and retains, each aspect of the synonym words.

So, yes, what makes this moment so solidly significant is its less than solid uncertainty.

And maybe that is why this particular uncertainty in the present seems a little more agonizing.

=====

“Our civilization is founded on the shambles, and every individual existence goes out in a lonely spasm of helpless agony.”

William James

=====

I am not a ‘glass is half empty’ view of Life and living Life guy, yet, James has a point here. Almost everything we do, certainly anything good, is built on the shambles of something. Therefore, our existence is challenged by the threat of some helpless agony … in our pursuit of being happier with some unknown certainty.

In this case the shambles we are trying to build upon is ‘uncertainty.’

And while some may suggest “how the hell can you build something out of nothing” I would suggest that is what we do when we are at our best.

When we use our skills, whatever capabilities we have and work together, actually cooperate, while being the best people we can be. In other words, we build something out of the nothingness uncertainty.

Here is what I know.

We all seek to make some positive impact on the world whether that world be our immediate circle or some grand global circle or somewhere inbetween.

Combine that with a thought I read somewhere that to live nobly is to avert one’s eyes from the bad and seek that which can be found in the light of good. And I think that is what James hints at — averting one’s eyes is … well … not easy.

Tell someone to not look at something and the temptation to look increases exponentially. And, let’s be absolutely clear, while uncertainty resides mostly in nothingness, and nothing tangible, we place that uncertainty in tangible things <events or people> so that we can stare at it as a prime example of uncertainty. It is not that we seek the agony and sadness of Life its just that I tend to believe we want some tangibleness because then it seems more easily conquered. And then this uncertainty alignment agony takes on a whole new level — our inevitable desire to create some plans to make things certain.

Yikes. That is a horrible objective.

Yet. Doing this is natural because we are taught almost from day one that planning, and a plan, is the key to success and happiness. In other words this suggests we can … uhm … plan for certainty.

That seems kinda crazy.

Shit.

It sounds like certain agony.

In fact.

It sounds like we are constantly sifting through the shambles of plans made and broken as we seek to make some meaningful progress in Life.

===

“The detective thinks he is investigating a murder. But truly he is investigating something else altogether, something he cannot grasp hold of directly. Satisfaction will be rare. Uncertainty will be your natural state. Much of your life will be spent in the dark woods, no path visible, with fear and loneliness your only companions.

But answers exist. Solutions wait for you, trembling, pulling you to them, calling your name, even if you cannot hear.

I believe that someday, perhaps many lifetimes from now, all will be explained, and all mysteries will be solved. All knowledge will be free for the taking, including the biggest mystery of all – who we really are. But for now, each detective, alone in the woods, must take the clues and solve mysteries alone.”

Jacque Silette

<fictional detective>

====

Look. Uncertainty is a bastard. It certainly makes us question ourselves — who we are as an individual and what we are truly capable of.  Today’s version of uncertainty is just our own version to the nth degree as it encompasses all things in our lives.

Here is the good news.

We all know answers exist and we all know they await us even if we cannot hear them, but we all know some certainty of some things exists somewhere.

This means we are constantly investigating who we really are and what we are really good at often desperately grabbing at clues or proof to provide some comfort that we have either solved the mystery, or, at least are on the path to solving it.

I will note that at all times I tend to find the “who you really are” as a silly, if not stupid, self-question.  Mostly because who I am today is not who I will necessarily be tomorrow. But, in particular, in this time and place I tend to think it sells the moment short. It encourages us to find our inner strength and inner core of who we are and suggest we will be able to walk the bridge from uncertainty to more certain things & places.

That is wrong.

And dangerously wrong.

We are going to be judged for this moment in time.

That I can guarantee.

And it will not solely be on character. It will be on skills, abilities, capabilities and how well we identified what we could do and whether we did it or not.

This may sound harsh, but the only people who will know who we truly are today are not us, but someone somewhere in a future yet to be defined. So looking for that kind of validation today is a fool’s errand. Yet. It should not stop us from being detectives, in fact, it will most likely be our continuous search for clues and solve what mysteries we can today that will guide us from uncertainty to some certainty of something better than what exists today.

In the end.

Sometimes we call it uncertainty.

Sometimes we call it ‘the unknown.’

But you know what? It doesn’t matter what name you put on it.

It’s fear.

In this case, in this time and place, it is an alignment of fears of whether we will be good enough as people, good enough in skills, good enough in leadership, good enough in abilities and good enough to meet whatever challenges exist in today’s existing uncertainty.

Oh.

To be clear.

Sometimes I believe we associate fear with weakness or possibly too often associated with ‘not enough positive thinking.’

That is wrong to do so.

I tend to believe we would be much better off, particularly in the here & now, to cut through the bullshit and just call fear by its name and face it — in all its black & white glory and the uncertainty and the fear associated with it — and step into it as my friend David Amerland suggests, with intentionality.

I am not suggesting you to not feel some fear of uncertainty or even that I don’t feel fear because, of course, I feel fear.

Who the hell doesn’t? <and if they say they don’t … they are lying>

I believe it helps to just face it.

And I am not saying this because I believe “fear is a great motivator” <because I would suggest that it is really survival that is a great motivator … not fear>. I suggest these things because fear, more often than not, actually freezes us … makes us do nothing. If we face it, we name it, we say ‘fuck you’ to it, we will do what it takes and needs to be done — try things in trying times.

To be clear.

I do not believe we are at a cross roads.

I believe we are on a road and we have an obstacle, one that we just cannot see and one that no one has articulated or shown us yet. It just exists in our minds and, yet, we know it exists as much as the thought of Santa Claus in the hearts of children. That is kind of what uncertainty is.

I do know I feel uncertainty and I am fairly sure I am not in a minority. I feel like most people, if asked, would just say something like “I am not sure what is going to happen” which means uncertainty resides at the core of what is in the here & now.

What I know for sure is that we will build something out of his nothingness. We will look back, or the generations yet to come will look back, and they will see something.

This I know.

Something will be built from the scraps of uncertainty and it will be built upon a foundation of what is the best of us.

The structure will showcase the strengths of our better skills, capabilities and abilities.

The skyline of the future will be a reflection of the best of us having worked together to create a better version of what exists.

Why do I know this?

Anything less is not the best version of who and what we are.

Anything less means uncertainty won.

This is our test.

This is our time.

This is our certainty.

That I know.

Yeah.

On November 18^th 2009 I wrote these words: Welcome to Enlightened Conflict.

I have never stopped believing that the best version of us is better than most of us think it is and that everyone just needs to be reminded of their ‘better version’ in order to permit it to stand up and speak out and ‘do.’

It is time for us to prove me right.

But uncertainty certainly is a real bastard, ain’t it?

It takes some intentionality to actually be the best version of who and what we are and can be.

Make your choice. Choose wisely.

=====

a version of this was posted in late 2016

=============

James Monroe:

“National honor is the national property of the highest value.”

==========

“Results are obtained by exploiting opportunities, not by solving problems.”

―

Peter F. Drucker

====

Well. In honoring America on July 4th I want to take a minute or two and share some thoughts on moving forward (progress). Not about making America great again, but rather what has always made America great — a land of opportunity and not a land of solely results. Semantics? Maybe. But an important one.

Opportunities is about reaching for what could be and within that resides a good dose of failure or ‘lack of results.’

Opportunities are to be explored with no guarantee other than an opportunity for good results.

Opportunities are to be explored as ‘possibilities’; not guarantees. And those are the types of things that make a country great, not just winning or results, but rather exploration of what could be.

It is the journey of opportunity.

Look. I admit.

I am a 100% business guy and I have absolutely fallen into the “seeking results by solving problems” trap on occasion.

That said. I know in my heart of hearts that exploiting opportunities is the key to business success, but in the day to day grind, especially if you enjoy solving problems, you can get focused on “boy, I sure had a good day because I solved a lot of problems.”

It is natural because problem/solution reflects tangible, almost immediate, pleasure & satisfaction and some clear identifiable outcomes.

Opportunities are less tangible and more hopeful. And if you have ever run a business, well, unfortunately, day to day business cannot run solely on hope. Yet, true leadership is more often than not defined by providing opportunities to those who seek, and need them, the most.

It seems like on this July 4th, this America 245th birthday, we would do well to remember this.

Regardless. My biggest issue with most politicians is a general lack of understanding of business and how it applies to how a government & country can be managed.

Now. That said. I continue to believe a business person, with no government experience, can never successfully manage a country. So while a lifetime politician will always struggle to understand the underlying attitudes and behaviors of a successful business, a business person cannot simply apply business learnings to actually running a country.

In my mind I believe someone who understands attitudes & behaviors & motivations is one most likely to be a successful leader. And this doesn’t mean understanding anger or frustration, but rather what motivates, inspires and makes people move rather than stand and bitch. In fact, leadership doesn’t mean standing around, or at some podium, blaming all the problems America has on ‘other people’ or shouting at the top of your lungs saying “I can solve these problems.”

Most likely instead of pointing out the problems, we should seek the opportunities that exist <and there are a shitload> and explain how to exploit them.

Shit. The founding fathers of America did just that.

They didn’t sit around bitching about problems and wringing their hands over seemingly insurmountable obstacles nor get angry because answers & explanations do not seem to exist or maybe seem unattainable at the moment. They argued over which opportunities represented the best opportunities for the better progress of America.

They didn’t have all the answers, but they certainly knew the objective – identify and exploit opportunities.

===========

“Just because we don’t understand doesn’t mean that the explanation doesn’t exist.”

Madeleine L’Engle

=========

There will always be questions. There will always be doubts. And there will always be ‘problems.’ Making something great is most often found in looking at what is and discovering the opportunities and exploit them. Let me be clear. Opportunities don’t reside in the past.

I can’t bring back jobs … but I can create jobs.

I can’t stop globalization … but I can exploit the opportunities globalization offers.

I can’t recreate a dying industry or dying skills … but I can create new industries with the skills that exist.

I can’t stop terrorism … but I can create the positive country environment which deters people from even wanting to terrorize.

What that means about ‘making America great’ is if we, or some leader, creates an environment in which opportunities are exploitable, and exploited by those who are most in need, all the major issues slip away.

I often wonder why instead of bitching about what is ‘holding America back from greatness’ we simply just accept that everything happens for a reason. We may not understand the reason <and, god knows, these days we want to invest more energy bitching about not understanding the reason than we do making progress away from what is happening>, but just accept it and get on with getting on.

Accept the fact there will always be more questions than answers, but you ask the best questions and use the answers to discover the opportunities and exploit them.

Accept the fact that even though things may not be going the way you wanted them to go or the way maybe that it should go … well … opportunities exist <if you look>.

The American dream never resides in the past. The founding fathers had a dream of what could be and the biggest gift they gave us was not any document or law or ruling guidelines — it was the gift of looking forward and not backwards. The gift to shed problems and issues and disagreements by advancing confidently in the direction of what could be.

==============

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

Henry David Thoreau

========================

Making America great will never have anything to do with building any walls, or breaking up banks, or free college, or dividing people, or gun control, or abortion, or minimum wages, or … well … any issue we seem to invest far too much energy debating.

Making America great will always have to do with seeing the opportunities that exist – not any we have to actually create – and exploiting them.

Crumbling infrastructure? We have an opportunity to build whatever infrastructure we want.

Massive debt? We have an opportunity to cut unnecessary expenses <in the real world this is called “down sizing”>.

Archaic education system? We have an opportunity to throw out the old way and build a completely new way <and this doesn’t mean privatizing education … which is not a real solution>

I could go on and on.

Every supposed “problem” America has represents an opportunity. So maybe instead of running around trying to ‘fix’ all the problems someone should sit down and say “they are what they are … what are the opportunities moving forward?” We should inevitably seize opportunities as a pathway to something better ahead.

Harry S. Truman:

“Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still.  Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.”

Leadership is never about just solving problems — that is simply a different version of ‘standing still.’

245 years ago a relatively small group of men with really only one thing in common – a vision & the opportunity to build a country – saw opportunity as what would make the fledgling country great.

They had no interest in standing still, but rather moving forward.

That didn’t mean there were not problems nor did it mean they ignored problems, but they recognized the way out of almost every problem and issue was forward, not by fixing, and therefore they sought out opportunities and  sought to exploit the existing opportunities to the benefit of a better America.

My wish for year 246 is to stop talking about what is wrong and who has done something wrong and instead talk about all the opportunities that exist. Stop talking about what America is, or isn’t, whether its great or not, and get on with getting on.

Happy July 4^th.

==== postscript ====

One could read this, should one choose to read it a certain way, and think I am suggesting ignoring some fairly important societal/institutional flaws under the guise of ‘not looking backwards.’ One would be mistaken. You have to clearly see where you have come from before you can fully tap into the potential of what could be in the future. Part of recognizing the past is to recognize why some opportunities were missed so that potential can be maximized in the future. Racism, institutional and societal, misogyny, institutional and societal, among some other issues cannot be ignored. Until we, as a country, accept them as truths, true potential cannot be unearthed in the future.

=====

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”

Albert Einstein

—————

Well. Who would have thought the guy who figured out e=mcsquared would actually say something so simple even someone who doesn’t have a physics PhD can understand it.

I am gonna dumb this down even more.

People in business who manage by milestones and aren’t satisfied unless they have “milestones” to measure and  lean in on “how do we make people accountable” drive me crazy.

Why?

Because they are always seeking something to count.

And what is worse?  That is where they stop.

They stop there because if they can’t count it, it doesn’t count.

Drives.

Me.

Fucking.

Nuts.

Look. Setting clear objectives and maybe some goals is always useful. But not to inspire work. It should be done to guide workers toward something. That said. The entire thought of “because you cannot count something that it doesn’t count” is … well … absurd.

It is absurd because the best people I have ever worked with, or even just glanced off of, had an intangible that made everyone around them be better. Yeah. Often they ‘hit’ numbers but they were also the ones most likely to hit numbers you never even imagined if you didn’t give them a frickin’ number to ‘hit.’  And maybe that is my point. The space between hitting a designated number and a realized number is uncountable upfront. Yeah.  I don’t know how you count that. I can’t even count the intangibles that go into creating a predictive uncountable number.

And trying to figure out how to make an intangible tangible just so you can figure out a way to measure or count it seems to be an incredible waste of time and effort. Let me explain just so you don’t think I am being silly. In most businesses if you leave people alone and let them create business and they generate some number bigger than what was expected <or forecasted> some numbnut will come along and analyze every aspect of what happened and who did what so that they can ‘count it’ into their next forecast. Its absurd.

(but that is something you can count on)

Numbers, in and of themselves, are not accountable. They are simply a reflection of some “cause” <and ’cause’ can be accountable>. More likely numbers are a refection of that wacky thing called “people working together.”

Numbers, in and of themselves, are less facts and more reflections of a mosaic from which you need to build facts. Even more importantly numbers are more a reflection of the intangible aspect of

What you can also count on is Albert was smarter than he looked.

“Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.”

André Gide

—-

Ok. I am always wary of those who come out blazing by claiming to speak “the truth” mostly because I believe rarely are things black & white or that truth is easy. This wariness of mine means I am optimistically cynical.

This can sometimes be construed as a contrarian <with some clear pragmatic boundaries>, but, it is not. Truth is hard and having a fact, or even some facts, on your side doesn’t guarantee you are holding the Truth card.

All this leads me to say that in today’s world I see too much lazy thinking <or possibly lazy sloppy communication>. This is most typically fund in people quick to select the facts they want to use and ignore others and then pontificate on “the truth.”

Anyway. My inherent cynicism makes me question everything upfront <or maybe one would hope as I have become older I can judge what to question and what to accept upfront>. I actually believe this is good use of cynicism. Instead of cynicism dragging things down it is used to structurally build UP, brick by brick, fact by fact, the truth.

In old times <like really really old> this questioning would be a version of Socratic questioning <but I am not as smart as good ole Socrates>. Socratic questioning focuses on the importance of questioning in learning <Socrates actually thought that questioning was the only real form of teaching>. Simplistically, Socratic questioning highlights the difference between systematic and fragmented thinking.

It teaches us to dig beneath the surface of ideas.

It teaches us the value of developing questioning minds in cultivating deep learning.

So. I imagine my point is that questioning <a version of conflict> actually helps us get closer to the truth. In a way, despite the fact ‘debating’ sounds glamorous, it is actually what I would call ‘the grinding of truth.’ You grind your way through the fragments until you have uncovered the truth.

The art of Socratic questioning is tightly aligned to the idea of critical thinking mostly because it ties the art of questioning to excellence of thought. To summarize this thought “Socratic” means a systematic approach in the interest in assessing truth or plausibility of things.

Both critical thinking and Socratic questioning share a common end — seeking meaning and truth.

Critical thinking provides the conceptual tools for understanding how the mind functions in its pursuit of meaning and truth.

Socratic questioning employs those tools in framing questions essential to the pursuit of meaning and truth.

The beauty of critical thinking skills is that it establishes an additional level of thinking to our thinking, an inner voice of reason, that monitors, assesses, and reforms our ideas/opinions/thoughts <in a more rational direction> and affects our feelings and actions. Socratic discussion cultivates that inner voice through an explicit focus on using the “outer voice” with directed, disciplined questioning. This becomes important because everyone has biases and some heauristic thinkng embedded so introducuing external/outer voice increases the likelihood you will not be blinded by your bias or beliefs.

So. What this means is that a shitload of the people adamantly stating ‘the truth’ (and we seem to hear a lot of these people on radio shows and talk shows and “advocates” of some special interest) are actually lying.

Ok. That lying thought. Maybe I could better say that they aren’t stating truth, but rather opinion under the guise of truth <and duping a significant amount of people along the way>. Yeah. Some of them are quite crafty in that they will sprinkle a fact or two into their opinion in the attempt to buttress up the opinion. Now, most are smart enough to know they are cherry-picking a fact or tow and assembling them in a way that looks impenetrable (but its actually flimsy), but they have made a choice. A choice to state truth when it is simply opinion <and shame on them for that … particularly if they do it under the ‘freedom of speech’ heading as well as if they have some ability to impact people>.

The truth behind the truth is that it does come with choice.

Try this on for size.

With awareness of some truths comes choice, and, with choice, freedom or chaos or crisis. This comes from 19th Century philosopher G. W. F. Hegel.

Discarding an absolute notion of truth, he saw today’s “truth” merely as a passing “bloom” in an evolving process of new “blooms”.

<let’s just call these stupid blooms … ‘ideas’>

Ideas and truth advance, he believed, only as ideas come into conflict.

This occurs when a counter idea <the antithesis> arises to challenge the status quo <the thesis>. It was this “conflict” or “crisis” which brought about the “higher idea” <the synthesis>.

Now.

Let me be clear.

The Hegelian Dialectic is more of an observation of the way thought systems evolve than it is a suggestion on how systems themselves evolve <so crisis is not an action, but part of thought>. Think of it as maybe a Plato would – someone states a belief or ‘perceived truth’ and the debate is the ‘crisis’ – or when an antithesis point of view is articulated- of which synthesis occurs and, hopefully, truth emerges. I invested some energy explaining that so no one starts running around being crazy trying to drive “crisis” into every frickin’ conversation we have.

That said. Marx and Darwin applied this notion to the social and biological realm. Marx and Communism stood on a pillar of crisis <just called revolution>. The higher social order could only arise from the “crisis” of conflict—the proletariat arising to battle the bourgeoisie. Darwin and Neo-Darwinian theory see the higher biological order arising only from a life and death struggle—survival of the fittest.

So. What this suggests is that truth can only arise from crisis <or in a dialectic world> through debate and discussion.

I know I do not dislike this thought.

As long as we don’t start thinking there is something “magical” in a crisis and see the debate as the synthesis necessary to cultivate truth this is not only healthy but creates some healthy truths.

Anyway.

Crisis is a big word. And easily misunderstood <at least by someone with a pea like brain like me>. I don’t believe we need crisis to create change. Simply some conflict. Simply some debate for god’s sake.

Maybe some questioning of people who state “the truth.”

<then that debate within conflicting point of views could be construed as a ‘crisis’ and Hegel can sleep at night>

All that said I imagine a legitimate concern one could have in reading this is that I am suggesting never ending debate. Or maybe even “unresolved conflict” because diametrically opposed opinions are locked in “absolute truths” and are unwilling to accept anything otherwise.

In other words, we never leave “crisis” mode.

I am not. That is bad. And useless. And dangerous.

But.

The entire idea of “thought” to ‘crisis in debate’ to ‘a clearer truth’ is a viable thought. And maybe that is the immost important truth – it is really really rare to reach an unequivocal truth, we more often simply have a clearer view of truth as it exists within a context, time and place.

So when someone states “absolute truth’ without debate or discussion I think its kinda nuts. Heck. I often think its nuts even after debate or discussion.

Oh.

One last important thought <a REALLY important one in this entire discussion>.

We are as much at fault as the “liar” if we remain silent when facing lies, partial truths or opinions masking as truth.

Silence is the death of debate.

The death of the search for truth. No questioning = no truth.

Think about that the next time you hear something that sounds … well … wrong.

And you remain silent. Your silence is killing truth.

Anyway.

Optimistically cynical in pursuit of truth.  Maybe Dill said it best:

——

“I ain’t cynical, Miss Alexandra. Tellin’ the truth’s not cynical, is it?”

=

Dill, To Kill a Mockingbird

—–

Do not remain silent in the search as an optimistically cynical view of truth.

—

“You cannot run away from a weakness; you must sometimes fight it out or perish. And if that be so, why not now, and where you stand?”

Robert Louis Stevenson

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So. We always talk about how, every once in a while, people step up. Its the idea that someone seeming to rising above not only what you expected, but maybe what they expected of themselves. In general, stepping up is tied to a meaningful moment. I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that all of us face meaningful moments, therefore, we all face this opportunity we call ‘stepping up’ at least once in our lives (and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was actually dozens).

Life is funny that way. It can push pretty hard. And most times it will try and push you down or back.  And, in fact, sometimes it pushes so hard it is quite tempting to lose hope you can deal with ‘the pushing.’

This is where we find some personal, internal, traction.

When the world is pushing you sometimes if you look close enough you find hope, in order to push back, in the words of children, some song, a friend or in something your parents may have told you. Yeah. I just listed a shitload of external stimuli. Yeah. I’m suggesting that your internal fortitude often needs some external help.

I tend to believe hope is an intricate mix of internal and external and, in particular, you need to find this type of hope if you desire to push back.

And when you do, you push back.

Yeah. I guess I am questioning ‘stepping up’.

Stepping up seems inarguable and a seems a simple concept. It would seem to mean to rise above yourself. Maybe to do a little more or to show something special. It is often a moment in which people need more so you give more.

See.

That’s why I am not sure it is stepping up.

I think its finding something that already exists within yourself and you use it not to step up but rather push back on what Life is pushing you on.

Look. We all know life can be challenging and can push pretty damn hard sometimes and I believe we decide, or not, to push back.

Because when life wants to push you down or off the path you want to be on, well, then I guess we learn to push back.

Just ponder.

Maybe instead of thinking about a need to step up, the next time Life pushes you, push back.

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“We must learn to be still in the midst of activity and to be vibrantly alive in repose.”

Indira Gandhi

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This may be my favorite quote of all time. I use this to explain great leadership.  I use it to living Life. I use it to discuss solving problems. Heck. I just like using it.

But. I will get back to that thought.

One of the neat things about sifting through the job opportunities are the sometimes well crafted, but always interesting, ‘here is what we are seeking’ writings. I still have this in my files:

—

“We have people who do good work when it comes their way, but we do not have a person who has the skill and the temperament insight in the data, clarity in the confusion, and courage in the chaos of a very large retail piece of business.”

—

Well. I love this. I thought it was an incredibly well written interesting way to state what they were seeking AND it also gave some insight into the personality of the company and writer. Plus there is some nice alliteration (or is that assonance, I always get them confused).

Anyway. I have written about the “mutual chemistry check” which I believe is incredibly important in the interview process (particularly at mid to senior level positions). And when you receive the ‘here is what we are seeking’ statement it is a nice way to judge some aspect of chemistry. They could have sent a laundry list bullet pointed list.

They didn’t.

** note: when I speak of chemistry I do not mean some simplistic ‘likeable’ or, worse, some Myers-Briggs personality assessment, I mean comfort with company’s guiding principles, because in the end, when the bombs start dropping and you are stuck in the foxhole with all the other decision-makers you don’t have to like each other but you damn well better be sure that your choicemaking works within a common guardrails mental system. 

I mention this because my write up for “so what is it you do well” took me a long time to figure out, but when I did, it now gets used by HR people and search people all the time as an example of how to write one that isn’t just factoids and ‘puffery’ and a laundry list of “I am good with people” and a “problem solver” and shit like that.

In addition they (HR/search placement people) like it because it reflects some “here is what you are gonna get” from a personality standpoint. Anyway. If you are seeking for an example here you go:

some good things to know about Bruce McTague

creative management

Let’s call my style ‘restless consistency.’ Restless because I like to build in some constant change but consistent because I dislike straying from vision/strategy core. How do I know it works? I have never lost a piece of business within my account responsibilities while in Account Management. Well. Okay one. One piece of business I was just assigned to resigned within one month. I would like to believe that wasn’t cause & effect. But it does make me think if there was cause & effect on why I don’t lose pieces of business (through reviews, contract renegotiations, senior management changes and staff changes). Another way I know that it works? I bet I have 5 strategies I have worked on since the 1980’s that are still the core strategic platform for that brand.
I believe it’s mainly because I believe in restless consistency. The easiest way to describe this is with a metaphor. I look at business as a 5 lane highway. I keep a business out of the ditches but I am comfortable shifting lanes and passing people as well as slow down on occasion to avoid accidents – all somewhere on the five lane highway. Yes. Sometimes I forget to use the blinker. And sometimes I will pass when the signs say don’t pass. So I have received some tickets along the way. But my car typically keeps moving and getting ahead.

managing transitional moments

Let’s stick with the highway metaphor. Changing lanes at any speed on a highway with other vehicles is always tricky. I have always shown the ability to see appropriate times to pass, which lane to use (I am willing to pass on the right) and show an ability to hit the transition moment at the right speed and at the right time. I would imagine it’s partially because I apply past business knowledge to successfully meet Client challenges. I imagine it is partially because I am always thinking and willing to adapt the strategic thinking with new learning. As a driver I have a proven successful track record of assuming responsibilities on businesses with no prior industry experience and transitioning new ideas into the existing programs. So. Put me on a new highway in a different vehicle and I know how to drive. My experience spans across traditional package goods, retail and service businesses and all I have stored away in my memory banks translates into ability to transition businesses through ‘business solving’ moments. This ability works well in new business environment also.

people management

My people tend to be successful in business and life. Cause & effect? I don’t know for sure. All I know is that I have:

–          Created and managed a variety of team formations which have developed successful business results.

–          Team members have moved on to successful careers of their own including CMO’s, CEO of agency, Directors of Strategy, executive management with clients and agencies.

–          Happy family life (good balanced lives)

I would imagine in some way maybe I teach life lessons at the same time I teach business lessons.

tactical variety

I do think it matters what someone has done from a practical experience. I have either worked in or directly managed Direct Marketing, Media, Account Management, Creative process, grassroots, brand planning, strategic planning (business consulting), social media, organizational behavior, etc and familiar with profitability and effective time utilization (labor) models to build and maintain profitable companies.  Taught strategic planning (the JWT model), Account Management techniques, presentation training, among other topics, to people.  All of this clearly places me into a generalist space. This doesn’t mean I know everything. This also doesn’t mean I can’t hang with the specialists in fact many specialists like having me around because then they don’t have to worry about how to translate what they are doing and thinking to others.
 

Anyway. There you go. An example. And an example that a bunch of people seem to like.

But back to the quote – still and alive.

All the skills sets I suggested I offered earlier seem to be grounded in the quote I used upfront.

I will also suggest actually implementing this quote may be one of the hardest things to do in the world.

Being still while things swirl around you takes strength of character and a belief in yourself. Because being still means you are willing to let others “do” and be recognized. And the possibility you may be overlooked in your stillness. On the other side, to infuse action where there is stagnancy or lostness takes such a strength, character and energy, that it can be overwhelming.

I certainly aspire to ‘still & alive’ mostly because I believe it is a personal version of festina lente (make haste slowly) and I believe that is efficacy in business. And if there is anything I am it is a believer in business efficacy – not efficiency, not effectiveness, efficacy.

That said. While still and alive is most likely a skill, it is also a reflection of some aspect of character. And maybe that is my point. Business, however you define it in this case – chemistry, success, effectiveness, collaboration, coherence – demands some character and a business that demands character will do well. Ponder.

——–

“Interestingly, Koi, when put in a fish bowl, will only grow up to three inches. When this same fish is placed in a large tank, it will grow to about nine inches long. In a pond koi can reach lengths of eighteen inches. Amazingly, when placed in a lake, koi can grow to three feet long. The metaphor is obvious. You are limited by how you see the world. “

Vince Poscente

———

So. I almost called this ‘lost and found.’ 

———

“We all get lost once in a while, sometimes by choice, sometimes due to forces beyond our control. When we learn what it is our soul needs to learn, the path presents itself.  Sometimes we see the way out but wander further and deeper despite ourselves; the fear, the anger or the sadness preventing us returning. Sometimes we prefer to be lost and wandering, sometimes it’s easier.  

Sometimes we find our own way out.

But regardless, always, we are found.”

Cecelia Ahern

——–

 Life, and understanding ourselves, is very often found in uncovering the obvious. This is the stuff that is so damn obvious and yet seems to get lost among all the other shit we have to do on our to do lists and what people tell us we should be thinking about <and sometimes even how we should think>.

And then … once in a while … we get a little lucky … and that which is lost among the blindingly obvious … is found.

We learn what it is we need to learn about ourselves and, well, ‘the path presents itself.’

Now. Let me be clear on two things.

First. This is nothing like uncovering the obvious in business. Business is where the idiots attempt to make the obvious extraordinary.

In personal life we are oblivious as to how the obvious is our extraordinary.

** note: this should make people think about how often we confuse what is important in Life and important in business

I find it painfully funny that in business we strive to make the obvious ordinary extraordinary <going to some relatively absurd levels to do so> and in personal life we strive to make the obvious so extraordinarily ordinary <going to some relatively absurd levels to do so>.

Second. This is not about all those studies and videos where they have a frickin’ gorilla walk thru a bunch of people playing basketball and you ask people to tell you how many passes were made and a majority of people do not even see the gorilla.

That is about seeing what you expect to see.

This is about ignoring, or dismissing, the obvious.

All that said.

I do not know one person who has not felt lost at some point in their Life. They may only glimpse ‘lostness’, they may be stuck in ‘lostness’, they may visit the vast array of ‘lost options’ in between, but everyone has visited some version of ‘lost.

It is the most visited vacation spot in the world.

And while visiting this hellacious vacation spot you invariably start looking anywhere and everywhere for clues on how to get out of this self defined hellhole.

And therein we find ourselves discussing the obvious and the overlooked.

We tend to seek out the details and pay attention to the small <if not minute> details and nurture these details in our heads <sometimes nurturing them to a point which enables them to grow to some disproportionate huge size> seeking something which could be regarded as “what makes us unique” and simply disregard the obvious.

—

It is better to be looked over than overlooked.

Mae West

—

Regardless.

Yes.

Details matter.

Yes.

When staring at your navel seeking inner truth there are a bunch of little things that can matter.

Yes.

In reality major changes can most often be found by discovering the most obvious and accepting the obvious as meaningful.

Yes.

It’s amazing how often we miss what’s right in front of us, the things we just don’t notice, even when they’re staring us in the face.

So.

How does his happen?

Our brains take in millions of bits of information every minute and we have this filtering system which attempts to make reason of everything without making us insane and, yet, that filtering system seems to work a little too well with regard to some of the most obvious things. Our brains have a built in innate ability to overlook the obvious as so obvious it must be meaningless < with regard to ‘why I think the things I do or why I do the things I do’>.

The obvious is simply the expected. And maybe think of ‘the expected’ in two ways:

–          Expected as unremarkable.

I begin with his because if we believe the expected is unremarkable, we naturally zoom by them delving deeper or at least somewhere else for ‘the remarkable.’ Our brains tell us the obvious things about us CAN”T be remarkable so there has to be something else! <most people say pleadingly>.

–          Expected things are flaws.

Oddly we almost always look at the obvious as our imperfections — the flaws and weaknesses that make us ‘lesser than’ in some form or fashion.

We do this instead of looking at the obvious, the sometimes seemingly ‘blah’ aspects of ourselves or the surface imperfections, as the things that make us distinct, maybe unique, and often remarkable in our own way.

All that said.

Suffice it to say self awareness is tricky.

Tricky in that while we may have good intentions we can tend to focus on the wrong things.

Or maybe worse?

Simply remain oblivious to the right things.

And the right things?

Sometimes they are simple.

The obvious stuff.

Maybe we should be taking a closer look at the obvious to better gain some self awareness.

Maybe we don’t need to invest so much energy delving any further than the obvious.

Maybe we should practice thinking about ‘what haven’t I noticed that might be worth noticing?’

Maybe we just need to take a look at some of the most obvious things right in front of you.

Look. I am not a betting man, but you can bet your ass there’s at least one that you’ve been oblivious to.

It is a Life truth that the most obvious things can disappear in front of our eyes and the most obscure seems to so often step into the spotlight.

We seem to prioritize obscure over obvious.

Uh oh.

Prioritizing one thing and neglecting everything else are two sides of the same coin.

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“I lie to myself all the time. But I never believe me.”

S.E. Hinton

===

The main example in everyday life is the grind. The grind is overlooked, but obvious. In the digital age of ‘overnight’, often obscure, but obvious, success stories in the grind are easily overlooked.

Yes.

We are constantly overlooking much of the world around us and no, there is nothing mysterious about it. The key is to realize that this is just what attention is – selectivity. For a brain has a relatively infinite computing power, but we tend to put a telescope focus on one thing which means picking up less information about everything else. That’s how we are able to concentrate on anything at all and shut out distractions.

Oddly, uncovering the obvious may simply come down to discerning intent versus reality. When seeking self awareness we tend to have some idealized intentions which demeans reality. And by demeaning <or diminishing the importance of> reality it often makes personal insights seem impossible to find in obvious things <i.e., it cannot be insightful if it is obvious>.

Well.

That is just damn silly.

Whole truths and actionable insights are more often found in the obvious.

The most obvious windows will provide the best views.

We learn what we learn about ourselves through not ignoring the obvious, but seeing the obvious as it really is and by doing so the path presents itself.

And circling back to the opening thought, maybe the most important thought is that which is lost can be found in the most obvious.

Ponder.

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“Dandelions are just friendly little weeds who only want to be loved like flowers.”

―

Heather Babcock

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Ok. One of the craziest discussions you have in business is often about what a business wants to tell everyone about themselves as important <some call this “differentiating“>.

Within most of the crazy discussion you will find an uncomfortable marketing truth:

Businesses want to state something obvious. But they want to claim it is superiority. And, ultimately, it ends up simply being hyperbole.

Trust me. This conversation happens everyday.

And it isn’t just advertising & communications, it is everyone and everywhere in a business. Sales, marketing, advertising, internal communications, PR and it even creeps into vision and mission direction/statements <where it can actually create harm>. While I could easily argue this is a lack of understanding of what marketing is, or how to be effective in marketing, or even a lack of understanding of how to differentiate or what differentiation really is, I will not mostly because its just more more often a lazy decision to seek some alignment within an organization too lazy to make some harder decisions.

Regardless.

“Obvious” disguised with hyperbole is the bane of the communications industry.

This came to mind during a discussion I had on “nothing really good is ever easy” where I laughed and said “nothing really bad is ever easy.” I didn’t say this just to be a smart ass <although I do enjoy being one>. I said it because it reflects the oldest advertising trick in the book. Huh? Reverse a ‘claim’ and see if it is something that anyone would ever do … or say.

It sounds silly, but you can eliminate a lot of silly, if simply obvious, ideas by doing this.

I learned this one really on in my career from the advertising’s infamous David Bell when I was working at an advertising agency called Bozell in NYC. While David and I may have had our differences he was a wizard with clients and business leaders. He taught me this one as we sat in a room filled with a non-stop testosterone driven group of a dozen client ‘marketing experts’ who bludgeoned us with ‘here is what we need to say about our company’ ideas. David staved them off one by one by reversing them to suggest ‘why would we say this? because the alternative isn’t really an alternative is it? … and, if you agree, then what you want to say, well, doesn’t say a lot about us, does it?.’

Ok. Let me give some examples.

“We care about people.” <or> “We are in the people business.” <usually with exclamation points>.

Flip it.

“We don’t care about people.”  <or> “We are in the non-people business.”

Who the fuck would ever say that? No one. Well. Unless maybe you are a zoo <non-people>.

Flipping the claim points out your claim isn’t really different, or certainly not distinct, from anyone else.

Another.

“service matters.” <or> “service exceeding expectations.” Heck. even … “exceeding expectations.”

Flip it.

“Service doesn’t matter.” <or> “Service not exceeding expectations.” And the infamous “meeting expectations.” <a nice low bar to meet>

C’mon.

Is there any business out there who offers the second, flipped, version? Of course not.

So that means what you are staking a claim to sound good and makes you puff your chest out a little <a lot>, but it is meaningless in terms of differentiation, distinctness and drumming up business. As I said, this conversation is one of the nuttiest discussions in business. It gets even more convoluted because developing a tagline for a company is difficult. Yes. That I admit <and have the scars to prove how difficult>.

Therefore many businesses take their sales or organizational rallying cries <“go beyond the expected!”> and suggest you make it their tagline.

Uh oh <I typically started looking around for the M&M’s and the bar about that point>.

Look.

I am absolutely an alignment guy. I believe in aligning an organization around a vision and a functional delivery focus. But using words as an alignment tool is very tricky. It can be done … but it is tricky … and has to be very well thought out. And sometimes it just cannot be done <especially if you simply use a sales rallying cry>.

Oh. My favorite to this day remains … “our people are our difference.”

Well. When are the people not the difference between companies? <unless we go to Star Wars Episode III: Attack of the Clones and believe organizations are hiring clones … hmmmmmmmmm … which could explain unemployment … well … anyway … different post>

Anyway.

I call this exercise “uncovering the obvious.” And, yes, sometimes telling people the obvious in marketing & communications is important.

And, yes, I have often encouraged businesses to state the obvious <particularly when research has suggested that people need to be reminded about the obvious>.

But, no, I have never suggested stating the obvious as a superiority claim.

Because it is silly.

And, ultimately, the only people who do not believe it is silly are your own sales people <or most employees> because everyone on the outside will simply give you a quizzical look and say something along the lines of … “uhm, I kind of expected that.”

Regardless.

Once you uncover the obvious you should avoid using it to differentiate.

Now. I tried to think about when it is appropriate to state the obvious and actually another blogger <Kog’s qualms> addressed this for me already:

——————————–

I can’t quite figure out why people state the obvious and, why they do it so often.  Whatever the reason, I definitely have a qualm. But I’ll allow for exceptions.  Obvious statements are okay in two cases:

1) when you’re excited and having a fantastic time and you want everyone to know: “I’m having so much fun!  This is so exciting”; and

2) when you’re talking about the weather: “It’s so sunny!” or “ugghhh rain AGAIN!”.  The first type of statements are functional and life affirming and the second are the cornerstone of small talk and just about the only thing everyone in the world can talk about and agree on.

———————————

So. Unless a business is having extraordinary fun <and wants to tell everyone> or wants to talk about the weather steer them away from stating the obvious.

All that said. I am ashamed to say that I have lost too many of these types of battles in my career. So many, in fact, that I consider the few wins to be extraordinary moments in my career. And sadly I believe my experience represents the majority.

In the end?

I am fairly relentless in trying to get businesses to discern the obvious from the distinct differentiator. I do so not only because it is the right thing to do, but with the hope that they will be better at winning these battles than I.

Feel free and state the obvious <because, honestly, sometimes the obvious is not always so obvious> but please, please, please don’t try and use the obvious to ‘differentiate.’

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“Wisdom is ofttimes nearer when we stoop than when we soar.”

William Wordsworth

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The word wisdom is such a lofty word.

It is such a broad term. It embraces a rare combination of discretion, maturity, keenness of intellect, broad experience, extensive learning, profound thought and compassionate understanding. It seemingly outranks all synonyms. And in its fullest most robust sense it is noble in its morality as well as intellect. And, yet, wisdom is attainable to any and all. Higher educated people do not have the corner on the wisdom market.

Why?

Because at its core wisdom is about simplicity. Stripping away the theoretical mumbo jumbo and all the high falutin’ philosophical meanderings some people get all trapped up in.

Wisdom is actually more about the ability to discern what is important from what is unimportant and making a choice, decision, or conclusion or judgment, based on that which is most important. In high falutin’ terms this is “sensemaking & choicemaking.’

Does that mean everyone is wise? Nope.

Does that mean anyone is capable of making a wise decision? Yup.

I tend to believe the wisest among us are the happy few who understand ‘it is what it is’ and nothing more nor anything less. That truth doesn’t reside in the wretched hollow of guessed intentions or ‘what ifs’, but rather in things as they are.

“More wisdom is latent in things as they are … than in all the words men use.”

Antoine De Saint-Exupery

To be fair. I just dumbed down a fairly complex thing. “What is”, while grounded in reality is actually envisioning things with a dash of past (learning & experience), a sense of the future (probabilities of consequences) and, ultimately, a solid understanding of reality (the present).  In clarifying my dumbed down version I imagine my point is I am not suggesting making wise choices is easy and that everyone is good at making them. Nor am I suggesting wise, or wisdom, shouldn’t be a compliment to the few who deserve it.

Having the ability to understand situations, anticipate consequences and make sound decisions/choices is a valuable <and enviable> aptitude. But wisdom isn’t all about fancy words or lofty philosophical platitudes.

Wise is often stooping to understandable rather than stretching for the unusable theory.

Wise is often simply in what is; not in what it could be.

Wise is often found in the guy schlepping in the mail room.

Wise is often in the mother who insures her kids get a square meal every day.

Wise people, and wisdom, is often found in the neighborhood park rather than at some podium or in some talking head on TV.

I say this because we all have it within us, we often know what is right … and the best … and we don’t need some supposedly wise people spewing forth supposed wisdom to tell us what to do and what to think. Remember. Wisdom is found in discerning what exists (making sense of the reality) and choices we make (navigating reality).

I would be remiss if I didn’t point out I have relentlessly used the word “reality.” I use reality as in ‘the present’. As in what exists in the here and now. Far too often we peg wisdom to ‘learning from the past.’ And, yes, the past can offer us some lessons. But.

There are so many people in the business world (and government) who seem too focused on following the past literally.  They see things and suggest they can be replicated by turning a number of contextual dynamics into a pretzel. I believe ignorant simplistic use of knowledge or information leads to stupidity. And it is silly stupid to believe anyone or anything can replicate the vague outlines of past events into the present.

The past offers us learning and knowledge, not answers. Yes. I just said that. You do not follow in footsteps of the past to gain answers. In fact. About the only thing you do get following the footsteps of the old are questions. And while that may sound frustrating, I would suggest knowing the questions, the right questions, is 90% of the way to gaining a quality answer. Because if you ask all the right questions in the present, well, you are actually seeking the same thing the people of the past were – wisdom in the present.

Ponder.

We all have wisdom. And we would be wise to ponder that.