Recognizing the Wise in Contemporary Acts of the Greater Good
Inspired by a desire to win back public confidence and trust, values that were lost in a mudslide of financial scandals, swindles, and corporate greed, students from the 2009 graduating class of Harvard Business School wrote the MBA Oath. It opens with this paragraph:
As a manager, my purpose is to serve the greater good by bringing people and resources together to create value that no single individual can create alone. Therefore, I will seek a course that enhances the value my enterprise can create for society over the long term. I recognize my decisions can have far reaching consequences that affect the well-being of individuals inside and outside my enterprise, today and in the future.
The MBA Oath has become a controversial conversation starter in the global business and economic communities as well as in the general public. Some business people embrace the idea of a code of ethics for managers; others feel that the code unfairly implies that most or even all managers seek profit at all costs. Moreover, members of the global public may take a cynical view of the oath, suspicious (with good reason!) that it is an insincere marketing ploy or is simply too little too late.
Yet, it cannot be denied that the MBA oath expresses many of the same characteristics of wisdom as identified by scholars such as Robert Sternberg (2000), Vivien Clayton (1978), Monika Ardelt (2007), and Randall & Kenyon (2001) to name just a few. Sternberg’s “balance theory” of wisdom seems to be particularly in line with the MBA oath. Sternberg’s theory describes wisdom as existing when people use their intelligence, creativity, and knowledge for a common good by balancing their personal interest with the interests of others and even the larger context over the long term as well as the short term. The tension between interpersonal and intrapersonal interests, according to Sternberg, is mitigated by values that most people would agree are good and helpful.
To my mind, this conversation raises at least two provocative questions: Can we recognize the wise by the greater good they create? Are people who have made a difference for the greater good also wise, or do they at least possess a fair amount of wisdom?
Back in 2000 when I began interviewing people who were identified by others as being wise, I wondered if I could understand wisdom by examining what these people actually do in their lives and if what they do can be seen as serving a common good. Indeed, during my interviews, these nominated wise people ultimately tell stories of their involvement and passion for work or projects that most would see as contributing to a greater good, either for their family, local community, or on a larger societal scale. Moreover, the nominators themselves often spontaneously justify their recommendation with a story about how the person is serving a greater good. Additionally, I found that most of the people referred to me used the losses and challenges in their lives to fuel their commitment to the greater good. These insights are intriguing because they suggest that we can recognize wisdom and even, as the MBA oath strives to do, create structures and opportunities to live wisely.
If the world’s population growth continues at the current rate of 1.2 percent (U.S. Census Bureau, 2009), the number of people on the planet will double to 12 billion by 2054. These numbers suggest that we are certain to see more people taking action to serve a greater good, even as we continue to witness spectacular acts of foolishness. At the risk of appearing foolish myself or at the least a bit naive, I am optimistic that linking wisdom to actions for the greater good makes wisdom more visible, practical and attainable for all.
Elle Allison, Ph.D. elle@wisdomout.comThe mission of Wisdom Out is to teach the strategies that wise people, couples and organizations use, to face whatever challenges come their way, and transform adversity into growth. Check out our website and sign up for our newsletter with monthly wisdom stories and practical wisdom strategies at www.wisdomout.com
[]
[]