Narrow Results

In this paper from the Xiangshang Forum 2006, we propose the Wisdom project, an international network initiative on developing the next generation of management and entrepreneurial systems based on knowledge and wisdom rather than data and information. This is a major challenge especially for China which must aspire to become wise and ethical rather than just efficient or effective. Major topics of the project include knowledge management, wisdom systems, added value measures, entrepreneurial university, and management as a profession. These topics are the key ones for developing sustainable competitive advantage of any globally aspiring economy or enterprise.

Based on extensive exploration in Chinese classics, this paper finds a fresh new perspective for KM philosophy especially in pyramid issue: The primary role in knowledge ontology should be consciousness rather than IT aspects, in which the former determines the perceived results such as data, information, knowledge or wisdom. With this domination, this paper presents a novel hierarchy that best solves the quarrel in classic pyramid, and illustrates the crucial issue of wisdom — the finding of a continuous birth and death metabolic cyclic nature called anitya in knowledge. Further, a three layer wisdom hierarchy is suggested based on different levels of understandings: traditional layer, dialect layer and ultimate layer. This paper argues that wisdom should depend on internal concentration while IT serves as an exterior role and never replaces the inner one. Meanwhile, the paper also doubts the classic definition of knowledge and suggests a novel one.

Goal/purpose: This study focused on information professionals working in the GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives and museums) sector, and how information was sought and used by them for community engagement and to attain wiser outcomes. The primary purpose was to investigate the information collection, use, reflection and values of professionals in the GLAM sector to determine if wise actions occur that may potentially benefit the community.

Methodology: A qualitative approach was used to conduct this research using the wise action model’s (WAM) wisdom characteristics. Data were collected from information professionals working in managerial positions in the GLAM sector using in-depth interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.

Results: The findings indicate that while most participants exhibit some elements of wisdom, there are gaps that need to be addressed before wise functioning is deemed applicable in their roles. While knowledgeable information acquisition and community engagement were very visible, more emphasis on values and stakeholder well-being is recommended for wiser considerations.

Originality/Value: Study of wisdom certainly deserves more attention in knowledge management research as previous studies have indicated. With increasing stresses in the lives of professionals, it is now more important than ever to gain an understanding of how much wisdom prevails in organisational functioning to improve the works of individuals and consequently improve the well-being of impacted communities.

Military veterans bring many unique and desirable traits to the workforce, including self-insight, experience, and sound judgment. Through their service in the American military branches, veterans have experience in heightened leadership roles in high stress and high stakes environments that shape their personalities, leadership skills, and behaviours. Because of this experience, veterans often demonstrate wisdom as they apply self-awareness and judgment through different ranks and roles in their service to the country. Hiring these experienced and seasoned workers to the benefit of businesses can be part of the solution in addressing the current labour shortage. Research is warranted in seeking to understand why veterans experience difficulties in their transition from the military into their business careers in higher numbers compared to the general population. The misinformation and misconceptions about hiring veterans are depriving businesses of a talented and unique population that can bring more wisdom to their workforce.

Wisdom is a human trait upon which natural selection creates evolutionary pathways from the molecular biology of the gene, to the cellular organization of nervous system, to the physical functioning of the brain — and the transit is a two way street. Wellness is a selection advantage at every level. Molecular wellness is innate, though often compromised because selection is blind; intellectual or high level wellness is learned behavior fed back to the molecular level as a kind of vision. The wisdom of this is that lifelong wellness — to the point of dying healthy — is a goal for every person and every society because it precedes and influences all other achievements.

This chapter focuses on establishing the conceptual foundation of the macroscopic perspective (structure and processes) of human thinking systems—the conceptualization of the general information theory (a component of the complexity-intelligence strategy). In this analysis, the human thinking system is perceived to be comprised of two components namely, the energy–matter subsystem (the natural component), and the physical symbol subsystem (an artificial component unique to humanity). The general procedure in which the human mind handles and exploits one or more physical symbol systems (symbols manipulation) is analyzed. The conceptual development encompassing the creation of the character set, capturing and transformation of data and information, acquisition of knowledge and emergent of wisdom (the four external entities), and the significance of a written language, as well as the additional associated functions are investigated.

The unique ability of creating a character set is confined to humanity indicating that human thinking systems are the most intense intelligence sources on this planet. The intrinsic and interactive properties of the character set and the language depict the characteristics and sophistication/ complexity of the physical symbol system. Besides interacting among themselves (data, information, knowledge and wisdom), these external entities also interact with the natural entities, the information-coded energy quanta, according to certain rules and principles. Subsequently, the energy quanta interact with the information-coded matter structure (the brain’s complex neural network). This unique ability (the presence of a written language) allows knowledge to be stored externally, and abstract concepts (including theory) and complex strategizing to emerge for the first time in the human world. In this respect, in the intense human intelligence source (individual or collective), information and knowledge exists in physical, energy and matter forms, and they are inter-convertible (internalization and externalization). The interactions among the six entities and the conversion from one form to another vividly review the presence of the uniqueness of the human thinking system, as well as the orgmind — greatly redefining the interactions and dynamic in the humanity and its organizations.

Subsequently, the boundaries and objectives of human thinking systems as information processing systems, and the necessity of artificial information systems are conceived as four postulates. In the intelligent organization theory, a deeper comprehension of the human thinking systems (complex adaptive systems) is vital, as they are the vital assets closely associated with the nurturing of highly intelligent human organizations (iCAS), including the coherency and contributions of a multi-layer intelligent structure (intelligent biotic macro-structure and agent-agent/system micro-structure). In this respect, the cognitive perspective must be better comprehended and utilized.

Wisdom is a human trait upon which natural selection creates evolutionary pathways from the molecular biology of the gene, to the cellular organization of nervous system, to the physical functioning of the brain — and the transit is a two way street. Wellness is a selection advantage at every level. Molecular wellness is innate, though often compromised because selection is blind; intellectual or high level wellness is learned behavior fed back to the molecular level as a kind of vision. The wisdom of this is that lifelong wellness — to the point of dying healthy — is a goal for every person and every society because it precedes and influences all other achievements.

This chapter focuses on the macroscopic perspective of the human thinking system. The human thinking system is perceived to be comprised of two sub-components namely, the energy–matter subsystem and the physical symbol subsystem. The procedure in which the human mind handles one or more physical symbol systems is discussed. The conceptual development encompasses the transformation of data, information, knowledge and wisdom, and how a language emerges. The boundary of a human thinking system and the necessity of artificial information systems are also included. A better understanding of the human thinking system and the conceptualization of the general information theory is vital to the nurturing of highly intelligent human organizations.