Wisdom

# 170a Awareness — TAME version

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Wisdom is about awareness.

peter-drucker-timescape_600x545

If you know the road, life is easier.

If you can see the road, life is easier.

Outer World ::: Inner World

The road to Davy’s Bar

Thinking broad ::: Thinking detailed ↑ ↓

NYT Obituaries

Wikipedia: Actors, Authors,
Musicians, Musical groups,
Politicians, Athletes, …

If you can discover new roads, life is richer.

If you know you have a #choice of roads, life is richer.

Awareness can be applied to the outer world.

What is going on out there?

There may be times when the outer world is going to affect you, either as a threat or as an opportunity.

Seeing more clearly what is happening is always an advantage.

There are times when you are going to want to affect the outer world.

Seeing this world more clearly will enable you to design your actions more effectively.

Awareness can be applied to the inner world.

How do we see the world?

What are our habits?

What am I doing right now?

You know what you look like in the mirror.

Do you have a mirror for your inner world?

‘The purpose of thinking is to arrange the inner and outer world so as to serve and improve our values.’

If you do not know the ingredients, you are not going to be a very good cook.

If you do not know the processes of cooking you are not going to be a very good cook.

Awareness is much more than information.

Awareness is information as it relates to you.

Try reading through the concept summaries (#170 - #183)
before clicking the links
embedded within EACH concept summary

“We know only two things about the future ↑.
It cannot be known.
It will be different from what exists now and
from what we now expect”

This ↑ means the future isn’t going to be like today
which was created yesterday …
and yesterday
was the product of the day before yesterday ↓

And “The actual results of (current) action are not predictable ↓ ” continue

‘The purpose of thinking is to arrange the inner and outer world so as to serve and improve our values.’

If you do not know the ingredients, you are not going to be a very good cook.

If you do not know the processes of cooking you are not going to be a very good cook.

“To know something,
to really understand something important,
one must look at it from sixteen different angles.

But first, something has to get on your mental radar (this page)
then what does that radar blip mean for you? ← who is you? →
then something like TO-LO-PO-SO-GO+

If the able and educated refuse to exercise power responsibly, irresponsible and incompetent people take over the seats of the mighty and the levers of power … continue

The Prime Minister and the Prof — How does friendship
influence political power? The story of Winston Churchill’s close friend
and confidant — an eccentric scientist named
Frederick Lindemann — whose
connection to Churchill
altered the course of British policy in World War II.
And not in a good way. Revisionist History

Saigon, 1965 — In the early 1960s, the Pentagon
set up a top-secret research project in an old villa
in downtown Saigon. The task? To interview
captured North Vietnamese soldiers and guerrillas
in order to measure their morale:
Was the relentless U.S. bombing
pushing them to the brink of capitulation? Revisionist History

“Decision making is a time machine here

that synchronizes into a single time — the present —
a great number of divergent time spans.” Druckerism

We can make decisions only in the present,
and yet we cannot make decisions
for the present alone;
the most expedient, most opportunistic decision
—let alone the decision not to decide at all—
may commit us for a long time,
if not permanently and irrevocably.” — Chapter 11, MRE by Druckerism

“The future requires decisions-now. It imposes risk-now.
It requires action-now.” Druckerism

Perception is not what the ‘eye’ sees but what the ‘brain’ sees ↑.

When you read the word ‘ice cream’ you do not just see an arrangement of letters.

In your ‘mind’s eye’ you get an impression of the appearance, taste, texture and temperature of an ice-cream.

When you see a train pulling out of a railway station your perception is very different according to whether it is the train you have just missed or if that train had no relevance for you.

I have often written that we badly need a word in our language for ‘the way we look at things’.

The nearest word is indeed ‘perception’ but that is rather too tied up with vision.

If our perceptions are wrong then no amount of logical excellence will give the right answer.

So it is a pity that almost the whole of our traditional intellectual effort has been directed at logic and so little at perception.

This is far more than a social change.
It is a change in the human condition continue

You need a technologist
who has an awareness of
what goes on in other areas continue

The importance of accessing, interpreting, connecting,
and translating knowledge continue

Helicopters that report back to local radio stations on traffic conditions at peak hours get a broad view of what is going on.

This means taking into account different factors, different people, different values and different needs.

We look around in all directions, not just where we are next going to place our feet.

We look backwards in time to seek explanations and reasons for what is before us.

We look backwards to examine past experiences, both our own and those of other people.

So the aim of wisdom is to end up with a perception that is wider, deeper and richer.

We need creativity to link up with past experiences which are not so obviously relevant.

One shoe salesman reported back that there was no market because no one wore shoes.

His companion reported back that it was a fantastic market because no one wore shoes.

If your eyesight is very sharp but you are looking in the wrong direction you will not see what you are looking ↓ for.

What it means is that at any moment everyone is acting logically within his or her ‘bubble’ of values and perceptions.

In the broader, overall and objective sense

no one is ever right

because

we do not have a full understanding of the world or

the detailed consequences of our action far into the future.

It must have become obvious to anyone reading this book that ‘possibly’ and ‘possibilities’ are a central part of wisdom.

Just as the hypothesis is central to science, so our ability to hold something in mind as ‘possible’ allows us to examine, explore, develop and check out that possibility

It is a pity that traditional thinking seems to have had little time for it, preferring the temptation of certainty.

The second way that ‘possible’ is valuable is that it is the best antidote to arrogance and to harsh judgements.

A judgement may be correct in terms of chosen information, chosen perceptions and chosen values.

But ‘possibly’ shows other possibilities of information, perception and values.

It is only our belief in ‘possible’ improvement that gets us trying to make that improvement.

Unless we become skilled in ‘possibly’ we shall always remain far behind the full use of our experience.

Only ‘possibly’ can pull us ahead so that we can put together our experience in different ways.

These may be alternatives of perception, alternatives of explanation, alternatives of action and alternatives of design.

They do not have to ‘put up their hands’ like a child in a classroom who wants to be noticed.

The various deliberate techniques of lateral thinking are available for this purpose.

It follows from ‘alternatives’ that we accept for consideration a number of different possibilities, alternatives, points of view, values, etc.

‘No, you cannot put that on the table unless you can logically justify its being on the table.’

‘Put it on the table anyway and later we can see whether to use it, combine it with other things or not use it.’

But when a Japanese says ‘hai’ it does not mean that he or she is agreeing with you.

Parallel thinking means laying down different views, values and possibilities in parallel.

Parallel thinking is the opposite of traditional adversarial thinking, where each statement has to be judged before being accepted.

In adversarial thinking, the ‘contradiction’ is a very important and powerful tool.

Parallel thinking allows both sides of the contradiction to be laid down in parallel without interfering with each other.

You do not have to accept something as ‘right’ because you have not rejected it as ‘wrong’.

Sometimes you can accept it as ‘possibly’ but even when you cannot accept something as ‘possible’ you still accept it in parallel.

Husbands say that wives should decide in advance exactly what is going to be needed and to reject what is not going to be needed.

Husbands complain that wives take six outfits with them so they can have the ‘luxury’ of #choice at the holiday destination.

They take everything along and then make the #choice only when it has to be made.

The husbands’ thinking is more like traditional Gang of Three thinking: accept or reject at this point before packing it.

If you have a map showing the different roads, then you choose the road you want to take according to your needs and values.

It is not the purpose of wisdom to choose your values for you or to change your values.

If you choose to let someone else or circumstances make the choice for you, that is also your choice.

If you prefer to take a step and then let the consequences make a choice for you, that is also your choice.

If you choose to follow a leader who is going to make the choices for you, that is also your choice.

Wisdom accepts that there are times when you do not have a choice or when you only have the illusion of a choice.

But wisdom suggests you examine those situations carefully in order to see whether this is really the case or an excuse for inaction.

The ‘edge effect’ suggests that the first step may be very difficult or very tempting.

If the first step is tempting, wisdom may find the later consequences to be not so attractive.

If the first step is difficult, wisdom may find that the later consequences are very beneficial.

The whole purpose of wisdom is to lay out the inner world and outer world in such a way that you can make choices.

The purpose of wisdom is to serve your values, the values of your local community and the values of the world.

You can develop a ‘broad’ sense of values in terms of width, depth and richness.

There are the positive values which you seek and the negative values which you seek to avoid.

In any situation there are the values of the actor (usually yourself), of the people directly affected by your action and of those indirectly affected (perhaps through the environment).

There can be contrary values, either within the same person or between different persons.

We can seek to accommodate the contrary values, combine them together or alternate between them.

It is the role of the ‘design’ process to take the values and the broadly perceived situation and to design the way forward.

You then have to choose between the alternatives, using your values and priorities again.

Design may involve working forward with the key values and then seeking to fit the other values in.

Wisdom acknowledges the validity and powerful reality of emotions and feelings.

Wisdom attempts to use them for their value and to avoid their negative effects.

In a similar way our feelings and emotions alter the chemical balance in the brain so that certain areas are more sensitized and therefore ready to be activated.

It is not that we ‘choose’ to see things in a way that fits our emotions.

We therefore need to recognize this biasing property of emotions and make a deliberate effort to bring to the surface some alternative perceptions.

Emotions and feelings overlap with values but are not always the same thing.

Your material value system may tell you that you have done well to sell your house at a large profit.

You may even feel delighted when the failure of your business frees you up to do other things that you have always wanted to do.

Awareness of the ‘edge effect’ may distinguish between temporary feelings and the more valuable long-term ones.

We can only move through life because the judgement of ‘recognition’ tells us at every moment

The danger lies in the harsh, quick and rigid judgements that we require of ourselves and that are required by our traditional thinking habits.

Too often we put up false either/or #choices to force ourselves, or others, into a certain position.

All this is an integral part of the Gang of Three thinking system, with its emphasis on:

and an inclusion/ exclusion box type of logic with the avoidance of contradiction.

This is an excellent system for many purposes but it has its limits and its dangers.

In a changing world the ‘boxes’ derived from the past may no longer be adequate to describe a changed present.

The dangers of judgement lie both in the rejection aspect and in the acceptance aspect.

Something accepted may be accepted too wholeheartedly, when acceptance should be milder, doubtful or related to circumstances.

While acknowledging the practicality of simplistic black/white judgements, most people are coming to realize that the world does not work that way.

If you choose to take a black and white photograph of the world this does not mean that the world has no colors.

Design may be much more difficult than judgement but the results will be better.

But when the cause cannot be found or, if found, cannot be removed, then we are paralyzed because more and more analysis will not solve that problem.

While we are excellent at analysis we are not nearly so expert at design — because design requires creativity.

There are times when design may be complicated and difficult but most of the time it is relatively easy.

It is true that in traditional thinking you may seek to put together the ‘thesis’ and ‘anti-thesis’ in the process of ‘synthesis’.

There are times when the combining of opposing views is enough, but in general design is a much broader process.

With wisdom we seek to design the way forward rather than ‘judge’ the way forward.

There is a belief that the ‘lawyer-type’ search for the truth of the Gang of Three is sufficient.

Arguments around this matter make use of exactly those habits which the argument is trying to change.

Just as we need a better word for ‘perception’, we also need a better word for ‘design’.

The word ‘design’ has strong connections to interior design, graphic design, dress design, etc.

All these suggest visual appearance and, perhaps, something added on to the essentials.

In its broadest sense design means ‘putting things together to serve our values’.

Then, like the doctor diagnosing measles, the architect says: ‘It is design number 71 that you will be wanting.’

So the architect opens the file at page 71 and shows the client what he or she will be getting.

The other architect listens carefully to what the client wants in terms of living space, use, access, working environment, storage, cost and appearance, and then asks the client to come back at a later date.

We have got far too used to considering only the ‘doctor model’ of the first architect, who seeks to recognize standard patterns, instead of considering the ‘architect model’ of the second architect.

The reason we have done this is that the historic tradition of thinking in the Western world was concerned with ‘discovering the truth’ (as required in theology) rather than in ‘designing for value’.

One of the difficulties of design is that we feel compelled to ‘design for perfection’.

As a general policy it is best to aim for a ‘simple and practical’ design.

When we recognize something, the processes in the brain provide a sort of ‘click’, just as humor generates a laugh.

At other times we are left to make the practical #choice between designs, none of which inspire us.

This does not exclude excellence but it does not demand excellence on every occasion.

If you believe that you are sufficiently wise already then congratulations either on your excellence or on your self-deception.

You can integrate some of the thoughts and suggestions into your own habits of thought.

What is put forward here is based on more than twenty-five years’ direct involvement in the teaching of thinking to schoolchildren, adults and the senior executives of some of the world’s largest corporations (employing up to 400,000 people).

As a practical step you may even wish to design for yourself a new super-pattern.

Just as King Arthur of the Round Table was always rushing off to the wizard Merlin for wisdom, so you can create your own Merlin.

You would then use this super-pattern as you wished, just as you use the gears as you wish when driving a car.

Perhaps, in time, you will progress from a manual gear-shift car to an automatic one.

If you find that wisdom has no value for you, give this book to someone who needs it as much as you do.

“Why is ‘thinking’ important? awareness — seeing the road ahead

Because without thinking we can only act in the following ways:

1. Act purely on instinct like insects.

2. Repeat the usual routines.

3. Do what someone else > decides > and orders.

4. Follow the emotion of the moment.” — Edward de Bono

If you don’t design your own life THEN someone else will do it for you!!!

The Alternative to Tyranny

Dealing with risk and uncertainty

Everyday thinking is what fills in the time when you are neither asleep nor dead.

Thinking is that waste of time between SEEING something and “knowing” what to do about it.

Knowing what to do

The purpose of thinking is to deliver to you the values you seek … continue

“If you do not care
to understand something,
then you must borrow an explanation
from someone else (and they will deceive you)
or do without one.” continue

#wlh #thinking
“One can … never be sure
what the knowledge worker thinks—and yet
THINKING !!! is her/his specific work;
it is his/her “doing.”” ↓

Dealing with risk and uncertainty ↓

What thinking is needed — now or later? ↑ ↓

Now and then the ‘edge effect’

Edward de Bono interview (12+ minutes) #audioplayback

Wisdom is largely about ‘broadening’ perception

… to know something important … (#sda on memo)

history-of-the-world-in-two-hours-01-healed-pict-400

Finding and selecting the pieces

Connect, connect, connect

Getting a broader view !!! helicopter

DEALING WITH RISK AND UNCERTAINTY ↑ ↓

Most of the mistakes in thinking are mistakes in perception. an exploration #sda

SEEING only part of the situation — insufficient #information

Topics vs. realities ::: larger view ↓

Three types of broad — width, depth, richness

Once you see something you can’t unsee it

JUDGEMENT → Attention-directing frameworks

Now and then the ‘edge effect’ ↑

It’s easy to get lost without a map ↑

Creating a better “map” ↓

The patterning system of the mind — the NEED for MANY competing patterns

Finding and selecting the pieces of the puzzle ↓

“Alternatives don’t have to show themselves” ↓

A big really picture

A smaller element ↓

“The terms knowledge industries, knowledge work and knowledge worker are nearly fifty (sixty, seventy, eighty) years old.

They were coined around 1960, simultaneously but independently— the first by a Princeton economist, Fritz Machlup, the second and third by this writer.

Now everyone uses them, but as yet hardly anyone understands their implications for human values and human behavior, for managing people and making them productive, for economics, and for politics.” — PFD

The Second Curve — missing the turn to the future

The World: A Brief Introduction

Books by Walter Wriston

Technology is about work: the specifically human activity by means of which man pushes back the limitations of the iron biological law which condemns all other animals to devote all their time and energy to keeping themselves alive for the next day, if not for the next hour.

“A change as tremendous as … doesn’t just satisfy existing wants, or replace things we are now doing.

It creates new wants and makes new things possible.”

Knowledge and technology

No surprises

Long years of profound changes

The Five Deadly Sins

A FREEDOM brainroad

T. George Harris — civil rights, politics, business, psychology, careers, self-development, health and spirituality

Celebrating the life of Peter Drucker — audio by Rick Warren

Things don’t alway work out as expected. What are the implications for those impacted?

The voyage of the St. Louis 1939

The really bad guys don’t always get what they deserve

The good guys don’t always carry out their obligations

Intelligence, information, thinking

If you never change your mind, why have one?

Have a sign on your desk which says:

‘Same thinking as yesterday, last year or ten years ago.’ — life experience

Parallel Thinking

Water Logic — what does something lead to?

Think! Before It's Too Late

Practical Thinking — The black cylinder experiment and the world surrounding you

Textbook of Wisdom — if you can SEE the road ahead …

Attention directing frameworks — a place in the mind

Intelligence ::: Information ::: Thinking combo pdf

Three types of intelligence

Dealing with risk and uncertainty

Information: Search not Think

Windows of Opportunity

Information and Decisions

What Everybody Knows Is Frequently Wrong

Time-life Navigation Insights

The memo THEY don’t want you to see

Why bother?

How can the INDIVIDUAL survive?

The INDIVIDUAL in entrepreneurial society

Managing Oneself — a REVOLUTION in human affairs

More than anything else we are responsible for our own self-development and allocating our lives

The second half of one’s life

Who you really are and who you might become!?

Jumping to conclusions

see above

“Most people make the mistake of believing that because something is simple, obvious and sensible we do it all the time.

This is not so at all.

We do not usually do even the simplest of things.” EDB

Assumptions

Misinterpretation caused by feelings

What about feelings and values?

What about beliefs? It is also true that beliefs can stand in the way of progress

Doing a PMI

Social ecologist

Sixteen different angles

Broad

Perception provides

the ingredients for thinking ↓ #pta

↑ “If our perceptions are wrong
then no amount of logical excellence
will give the right answer.” ↓

Your thinking, choices, DECISIONS are

determined by

what you’ve “SEEN” ↑ …

‘An #idea
can never
make the best use
of available information
because
information trickles into the mind
over a period of time
the idea patterns set up
cannot be as good
as if
all the information
arrived at once.’ continue

Wisdom

The Nature of Freedom