PRACTICAL WISDOM FOR DECISION MAKING 1
PRACTICAL WISDOM FOR DECISION MAKING Practical Wisdom: the right way to do the right thing ◈ It is a moral skill—a skill that enables us to discern how to treat people and situations in our everyday social activities. ◈ How, then, are we to learn to be practically wise? There is no recipe, formula, or set of techniques. Skills are learned through experience, and so is the commitment to the aims of a practice.
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PRACTICAL WISDOM FOR DECISION MAKING But not just any experience will do. Some experiences nurture and teach practical wisdom; others corrode it. And it is here that Aristotle focuses our attention on something critically important: character and practical wisdom must be cultivated by major institutions in which we practice.” 3
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PRACTICAL WISDOM FOR DECISION MAKING Temperament: broadly refers to consistent individual differences in behavior that are biologically based and are relatively independent of learning, system of values and attitudes. Character: it is something we can shape and mold and strengthen. We strengthen our character through the habitual practice of sound moral habits, called ethical or human virtues. 4
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PRACTICAL WISDOM FOR DECISION MAKING Four main human virtues (Plato, St. Thomas)
Prudence: to make right decisions Justice: to give every individual his due Courage: to stay the course and resist pressures of all kinds Self-control: to subordinate passions to the spirit and fullfillment of the mision at hand 5
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PRACTICAL WISDOM FOR DECISION MAKING Two other fundamental virtues though not considered cardinal (leadership specific virtues):
Magnanimity: is the quest of the spirit to strive for great things. Is rooted in a firm confidence in the highest possibilities of human nature. Humility: is the habit of living in the truth about one´s metaphysical conditon, and one´s strenghts and weaknesses.
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PRACTICAL WISDOM FOR DECISION MAKING HUMILITY: Habit of living in truth. FALSE HUMILITY: Refuge of the small minded. Laziness, give up rights that are really duties.
Leaders avoid the pitfall of taking themselves too seriously. Their awareness of the gap between the grandeur of their vision (magnanimity) and their own inability to bring it out (humility) makes them laugh at themselves with simplicity and good humor. 7
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PRACTICAL WISDOM FOR DECISION MAKING
If magnanimity and humility are the essence of leadership, the cardinal virtues constitute its foundation. 8
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PRUDENCE Making the right decision.
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“
The pre-eminence of prudence means that so-called “good intention” and so-called “meaning well” by no means, suffice.
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Josef Pieper 10
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PRUDENCE
Prudence enables leaders to perceive situations in all their complexity (or simplicity, as the case may be) and make decisions in accordance with this perception. 11
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PRUDENCE Prudent decision-making consists of three steps:
Deliberation: gathering information so to establish a yardstick. Judgment: the evaluation of this information. Deciding: defining the road to follow.
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PRUDENCE The knowledge granted by prudence. Leaders need to be students of human nature. Practical wisdom. Scientific decision-making is most likely to succeed when the matter at hand is of purely technical nature. In leadership, such cases are rare because human beings are invariable involved. Tragedy of indecisiveness. 13
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DELIBERATION 1. Gather information and analyze it critically
Reliability of sources. Distinguish between facts and opinions. Truths and half truths.
2. Avoid rationalizations at all costs
To rationalize is to twist objective data, consciously or unconsciously, to make them fit pre-conceived notions.
3. Recognize and put aside your prejudices
Humility again: make adjustments to realign with greater wisdom. 14
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DELIBERATION 4. Keep in mind the nature of your organization. 5. Keep in mind your organization´s mission Specific objectives should advance the organization´s mission, or, at minimum, not contradict it. A mission without objectives is an exercise in futility. Similarly, the achievement of objectives unlinked to any overarching mission is much ado about nothing. 15
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DELIBERATION 6. Try to foresee as many consequences of your actions as you possibly can. Prudentia in latin stems from providentia, which means foresight. 7. Apply natural moral law to specific situations so as to assure a just outcome. 8. Seek advice.
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JUGDEMENT and DECISION Deliberation is followed by judgement and decision. To judge is to weigh pros and cons. To decide is to choose between alternative solutions. Prudence is not only insight and foresight. It is also imperium, or command. It directs the implementation of decisions expeditiously and with authority. If a decision provokes a counter-reaction, that is not necessarily a sign that the decision was wrong. On the contrary, it may be a sign that the decision was good and opportune. 17
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JUGDEMENT and DECISION
Prudence is not timorous; leaders run great risks in making decisions. 18
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BEING and PERCEPTION At the heart of the virtue of prudence is the relationship of a leader´s character to his ability to grasp reality. The relationship between being and perception, between what we are and what we see. The relationship between being (understood as strength of character) and perception (understood as insight into the essence of things) is profound. 19
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BEING and PERCEPTION We perceive and interpret trough the lens of character. By strengthening our character (growing in virtue) we improve our ability to deliberate in the light of reason. If we possess virtues in abundance, we will have an easier time seeing people as they really are, with all their strengths and weaknesses.
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PRACTICAL WISDOM FOR DECISION MAKING
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