Ithuta JV

Source - Article by Bob Andrew

We need more wisdom in our lives, not the wisdom of philosophers and poets, but practical everyday wisdom, that will help us do the right things in the right way.

These are the words of Barry Schwartz and Kenneth Sharpe in their new book Practical Wisdom.

We are all born with wisdom, but during our lives it needs to be nurtured and given time to develop. The basic problem, argue Schwartz and Sharpe, is that there are too many rules and regulations and administrative oversight mechanisms, which are designed and implemented to reduce free thinking. In addition, there are incentives that encourage us to stick to the rules. The rules and regulations tell you what to do, oversight makes sure you do it and incentive systems provide you with a reward if you do and punishment if you don’t. The underlying basis of rules and oversight is that even if you want to do the right thing, you need to be told what it is and be watched to ensure you do it. The basis of incentives is that you will not be motivated to do the right thing if you don’t expect to get a reward for doing so. So it is all about sticks and carrots. In this form, sticks and carrots damage discretionary thinking and creativity and discourage innovation. This seems to be totally contrary to what is required in the modern professional and institutional world, where innovation is key to survival. What we need today is to exercise wisdom in all that we do so that we do the right things in the right way. Detailed rules and procedures undermine the skills that wisdom require. Much of the thinking and writing about project management has emphasised the use of tools and techniques, a 'scientific' or technology-based approach to the task and a great deal of management oversight and authority. The unpredictability of project environments, as technology, stakeholder expectations and the wider environment change, induce a degree of apprehension in what acting 'professionally' means in the circumstances of 'not knowing' exactly what is coming next. This severely exposes the shortcomings of a dominant project management regime. Wisdom, not rules and autocratic management, is required to secure the emergence of collaborative action to enable the ‘next-step’ and to create a position for further action. Practical wisdom is to know when to make ‘the exception to the rule’, when and how to improvise and when to use your skills in pursuit of the right objectives. Morally, practical wisdom is to serve other people, not to manipulate them. Project management and control need to be structurally formalised through procedures, contracts, regulations, standards and codes, with penalties where required. Practical wisdom in project management implies that the structures and environment should also be socialised through creative and innovative participation and collaboration among participants.