Let me be frank, I have been on this earth for a while! Whenever I’m reminded of my age, or need to confront the fact myself, a sense of shock and disbelief overwhelm any other emotion. Don’t worry, I get over it until the next time I’m reminded of it – often as a result of doing something that men of my age shouldn’t! But maybe this is at the very heart of getting older as these reminders can force us to reflect on our life in different ways. Not via regret, but more about our experiences, both good and bad. And about all the knowledge we have managed to absorb, forget, use or ignore. And does all that knowledge make us wise as we grow older and reflect more? Does knowledge equal wisdom? And what does this have to do with business? Let me explain.
I recently read Nexus by Historian-Philosopher Yuval Noah Hariri (his first book Sapiens – A Brief History of Humankind is a fascinating read). In Nexus Hariri looks at our development over time and in the future, relative to “Information” and how we obtain and use it. Today we are bombarded with information, be it via Google, social media, Apps, You Tube, Chat GPT and other AI sources – the list seems to just grow exponentially. But as Hariri states, “today, the biggest challenges we face are the quality of the information we consume and how we choose to use it – helpfully or harmfully.” Knowledge is available everywhere – we don’t have to learn things we just need to know how to search for it. But here is the rub, our information is invariably in bite-sized chunks, brief windows that we peer into until the next ding on our phone distracts us to the next bite-sized chunk. We don’t compare different sources and exhibit curiosity about its integrity or quality, there’s not enough time for that. We don’t absorb it. We don’t take time to understand it. We don’t take time to connect it with other related information. We don’t gain wisdom! Wisdom doesn’t just come from the older members of our species. It comes from those that take the time to connect that huge source of information and knowledge with real-life experiences of the past and how that information will influence our future. Wisdom is the product of deep thought, and how much of that do we have time for?
Now, back to business. Many businesses are at a critical stage. A stage where there is lots of information about what to do, how to survive, who to listen to, who not to listen to. My advice is clear – to all my clients. Think deeply! Understand your problems, really understand them. Don’t fall into the trap of just throwing solutions all over the place – solutions that you have read about, that sound as though they could be helpful. Use information and knowledge to pull your problems apart, get to the quick, truly understand them. Be wise! Then, and only then, take strategic actions to right the ship, or at the very least, position yourself for the recovery. Because it will come! As a very wise man once said “This too shall Pass!”
Cheers
Phil Pickford
