- Modern affluent societies provide a paradox of choices. More choices make us not freer, but more paralyzed, not happier, but more dissatisfied. More is less.
- Practical wisdom is an antidote to a society gone mad with bureaucracy. Rules often fail us, incentives often backfire. It will take practical, everyday wisdom to rebuild our world.
- You don’t need to be brilliant to be wise. Common Sense is not common. B and C students often employ A-students.
- The wise person knows:
- When & how to make the exception to every rule
- When & how to improvise
- How to use moral skills in pursuit of the right aims
- Wisdom is crafted by experience not birth right
- Wisdom takes time & experience mentored by wise teachers
- Rules and procedures spare people from cognitous engagement.
- When things go wrong we look to the short run benefits of:
- Answers over Insights
- Solutions over Improvements
- More and Better Rules over logic, and when all else fails
- Incentives
- Moral development is retarded by mere compliance. Defiance sometimes triumphs conformity.
- In seeking the moral high road, we must constantly distinguish between that which serves individual interest vs. that which promotes the common good will of moral responsibility.
- During this New Year let us all consider how to Re-moralize our work
- Develop a Sensitivity Policy toward the many expressions of insensitivity
- Reimagine that which no longer serves us, and
- Be the Change we wish to see in others – Celebrate moral exemplary behavior