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Have you ever asked yourself at work:  I wish I was as wise as the boss?  It seems that a lot of people know a lot of things but very few of us are ever referred to as wise.   Have you ever noticed that most Noble Prize Winners and other people generally referred to as wise are in the later stages of their careers?  Why is that?  So, how did they get the wisdom to be wise beyond their years?  In this blog let’s briefly explore the answer to that and another question:  How did they get to be so wise? 

I’ve learned about what is sometimes called The Wisdom Hierarchy as shown below, in some representations it is an inverted pyramid made up of four (4) levels:

This data - information - knowledge - wisdom (DIKW) hierarchy has been referred to as the Knowledge Hierarchy, the Information Hierarchy or the Knowledge Pyramid and has become one of the widely recognized and taken-for-granted models in the information and knowledge circles. Russell Ackoff is often cited as the initiator of the DIKW hierarchy during his comments in a 1988 speech in which he added another level between Knowledge and Wisdom called Understanding.

To paraphrase the DIKW mantra: If you gather enough data and process it you form information.  If you review enough information you gain knowledge.  If you acquire enough knowledge, you become “wise”…

So, if you want to be “wise” someday, the morale to this story is to set a goal of “learning something new every day” and making a lifelong commitment to learning.  I feel strongly that your education shouldn’t end when your formal schooling does.   From my experience, a college degree provides you with vocabulary and concepts, but it’s the school of life, your work life and those hard knocks along the way that teaches us “common sense” that’s a needed ingredient to becoming “wise”. 

I recommend that you ask questions, read books, challenge yourself to grow and learn by take continuing education courses, going to workshops, and attending webinars and seminars.  Then use the tools you have learned there to gather that data, read the information, become knowledgeable on a variety of subjects, both related to your work and some outside of your work, to become well-rounded..   And just maybe one day someone will say.  Wow, you’re a “wise” person!

Please post a comment here or ask any questions that you may have.

Dave Westfall is a Business Coach, Internet Marketing Consultant, Speaker and Trainer with DewPointe Ventures LLC.  You can reach him by email at: davewestfall@dewpointe.com.  Please check out Dave’s profile on www.linkedin.com/in/davewestfall or you can follow Dave on www.twitter.com/davewestfall.

All the best,

Dave Westfall, MBA

Categories: Management