practical wisdom in complex system management

Leonie Hallo et al. published the research “Investigating practical wisdom in complex system management: What is it and how do we get more?“

Systems are now extremely complex with the continuous involvement of multiple stakeholders and rapidly advancing technology, and a new way of viewing high-performance system management and decision-making is needed.
This paper considers the use of practical wisdom as a promising way of revitalising system management to improve the success rate in making critical decisions.
Practical wisdom has been investigated as a useful approach in many
fields, including philosophy, psychology, health, education and organisation studies: however, its application to system management is sparse. Questionnaires were sent to 124 manager participants to assess their view of the importance of various practical wisdom attributes as these relate to system management success. Applying the exploratory factor analysis technique emerged the following factors:
(1) practical mindset;
(2) stakeholder mindset;
(3) moral mindset;
(4) win-win mindset; and
(5) holistic thinking mindset.
Two of these factors, stakeholder mindset and win-win mindset, have not previously emerged in practical wisdom research.
The factors extracted were validated via both technical techniques and considered commentary by senior leadership practitioners. The results of this study can assist managers to develop greater insight into optimal management of increasingly complex systems via consideration of these practical wisdom factors and the interplay between them.

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The results of this survey provide support for much existing literature on the importance of key constituents of PW for wise decision-making. Decision-making within the context of complex systems is becoming more difficult, and this tendency will increase given rapid advances in technology and other factors. Challenges for managers involve considering both the detail and the big picture, empowering all stakeholders, ensuring that decisions are ethical and in line with societal requirements, balancing huge amounts of information with the need for quick decisions, considering the future as well as the present and political sensitivity.

This work attempted to expand understandings of the concept of Practical Wisdom (PW) through application to the unique setting of complex system decision-making. The unfolding of factors not explicitly present in previous literature is a particular contribution arising from this paper.
When PW is engaged by managers, wise decisions for the common good can be discerned. The changing relationships concerning power, and the multiple perspectives of stakeholders, present opportunities for managers to use PW to make wise decisions despite the emerging circumstances that are present in all social organisations

Assisting system managers to expand their PW might involve reflection on their actions both at the time and later, as well as conversations with others enabling personal transformation in practice to more competently address complex systems. PW is a useful lens through which to consider the demanding nature of complex systems now.
The managerial implications of these results are clear. Managing complex systems is challenging and systems managers must maintain a level of alertness enabling them to balance priorities as listed above.

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List	Wisdom Attributes	Description	Examples
1	Can grasp holism as well as situational context	Zoom in and zoom out	I can look at the details as well as see the big picture.
2	Can accept diverse views and perspectives	Understands that people have widely diverse understandings and value different things	I’m good at seeing things from other people’s point of view.
3	Can balance between conflicting factors	Can be open-minded about both sides of an argument	I try to appreciate an argument from both sides.
4	Can appreciate the broader context of an issue	Can look beyond the issue in question	I try not to get too hooked into the details, but consider the context as well.
5	Can balance self and other’s interests	Willing to consider others as well as self	I actively try not to focus too much on my own issues.
6	Can entertain paradox and balance opposites	Is comfortable with ambiguity	I am comfortable even if there is no obvious solution.
7	Has foresight and long-term thinking, as well as short-term appraisal	Can look beyond the here and now	I try to maintain a future orientation as well as focusing on the present.
8	Prosocial orientation including compassion, sympathy	Can put oneself in the other person’s shoes	When I see that people are struggling, I try to understand how they are feeling.
9	Seeking the common good	Maintains a desire to produce an outcome that is good for all	I try to make decisions which will benefit the broader group/society
10	High personal integrity	Keeps a high personal standard	I try to always behave to a high personal standard.
11	Honesty	Tells the truth	I always tell the truth even if it is uncomfortable.
12	Behaves in line with professional ethics and standards	Is aware of professional requirements and tries to meet them	I abide by the ethical standards in system leadership.
13	Is adaptable	Can change along with system changes that arise from conflicting factors	When things change in the system environment, I adapt my approach
14	Is decisive	Can turn wisdom into action	I act decisively when necessary.
15	Has practical reasoning	Can suggest options that will work	I always keep in mind that my suggestions must be feasible for the situation at hand considering all factors
16	Is able to compromise	Can look for something which will bring benefit to both parties	I try to find a way which will accommodate all parties.
17	Can cope with complexity	Is not overwhelmed when things become complex	I know that most systems (projects) have an element of unpredictability and ‘unknowns’.
18	Can cope with conflict	Is not overwhelmed when conflicts emerge	I deal with conflict proactively and try to look for a good enough solution.
19	Displays high emotional intelligence: others	Understanding of others’ emotions and managing of emotions	I can read other people’s emotions accurately and work well with other people.

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P.S.
This article on practical wisdom get support from other entries I already made, like e.g.

• I Might As Well Be Happy
• Wisdom perception across 12 countries
• Avoid the Hijack – Be Emotionally Intelligent
• The complexities of knowledge co-production
• The Wisdom of the Inner Crowd
• Collective Intelligence & information pooling or aggregation
• French Horn taught me everything I needed to Know – Arthur Brooks
• Wisdom in few quotes
• Decision-making Uncertainties
• Article: Circles of dialogue of wisdom