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	Friday, May 20, 2005

Are you hiring Smart or Wise People?  ( on business) For the longest time, I focused our company's goal that we were going to hire smart people, smart people who are quick to make decisions, and who are eloquent to verbalize such.  A readers opinion by Point Roberts of Washington in a recent Fortune magazine issue ( which I could not locate the electronic equivalent) gives pause for reflection. There IS a difference between being smart and wise, and as he pointed out, wisdom is now being replaced by smartness in the corporate world.  That hit a raw nerve in me, and I can reckon many businesses I know also have the same issue without realizing it. The workplace of today is now focusing on hiring smart people who are tactical concrete thinkers who can make decisions quickly and sounds great.  However, many of these decisions made on the snap subsequently turns out to have a poor understanding of the complexity and subtlety of various points of view that needs to be considered. A company should also hire wise people -- people who may make decisions not as fast, but tend to be more abstract and strategic thinkers, and who knows how to incorporate different factors into their decision making, a person who is cognizant that a decision can have good results but bad implications,  a good short term result but a bad long term side effect, and who can understand a potential problem with the decision before it starts to stare right in the face. Wise people think more abstractly and strategically and incorporate more factors into their decision making. In a company where smarts are rewarded and eloquence is listened to, the CEO should not forget to listen to the insight that comes only from long reflection, study and contemplation. Today's near term focus and emphasis on speed results in rewards to smart people and to look for smart people.  The problem of course, is many smart people are not wise at all.  Where is wisdom?   10:44:59 AM     comment []   trackback []