Practical wisdom from Aristotle

Practical wisdom is about doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right way, for the right reasons.  It’s not something you learn by studying or thinking, but by doing.”  So says US Psychologist Barry Schwartz as reported in HR Monthly magazine, February 2010, pp 10-13.

Barry’s views are based on the teachings of the famous philosopher Aristotle, who was “very interested in how craftsmen – woodworkers for example – solved unique everyday problems by developing rules of thumb, making mistakes, and correcting their approaches to problems based on previous mistakes.  He thought this example showed how to lead other people and how to be good marital partners, be good parents, teachers and so on.”

This article explains a lot of why I chose the name ‘bizdom‘ for this blog.  And how I go about improving business performance.

Read on to discover how practical wisdom can be readily and beneficially applied in business and in other spheres.

What is the best recipe for learning?

So many ingredients.  So many combinations.  So many intentions.  So many outcomes … and not all of them good!

A dose of job design.  2 days of induction (but it says ‘onboarding’ on the package?).  A spot of mentoring.  Performance management by the boss … when they can fit it in.  An executive coach … or 3?  An external course.  Networking event.  eLearning program.  A team building workshop thrown in for good measure.  And a dash of …

And let’s not forget ‘Leadership Development’.  Or are they born, not made?

Read on to find out about the 70/20/10 rule that is gaining popularity as a guideline, as well as current trends in corporate learning as reported in HR Leader magazine, 8 June 2010, pp 22-23.

How great leaders inspire action

An 18 minute video clip espousing a simple but insightful model for understanding leadership based on the application of biology (not just psychology) which has profound implications for how you run your business, provided you take the time to contemplate the far reaching implications and consider the changes it suggests you would make to everything including the practices of directorship, management, marketing, sales, service and beyond.

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