The Wise Company

Sharing my learnings from the book, The Wise Company by Ikujiro Nonaka & Hirotaka Takeuchi

The Wise Company by Ikujiro Nonaka & Hirotaka Takeuchi

High-velocity change is the fundamental challenge facing companies today. Few companies, however, are prepared to continuously innovate—because they focus on the short-term and do not emphasize the wisdom needed to make sure that their interests are aligned with those of society.

• running a wise company is more than just profit. It’s about knowing your environment and customer needs on a more personal level
• We should focus on how to use knowledge more wisely: explicit (statistics and data) & tacit (insights you gain through experience)
• 3 main problems of companies:
  • many are over-reliant on explicit knowledge
  • companies must think about the future they want to create
  • the need for wise leaders
• rather than just obtaining valuable knowledge, we should focus on practicing the knowledge we have gotten
• phronesis is the kind of wisdom that serves as the basis for practical action. It’s about action, context, goodness and purpose
• phenomenology means actions we take now directly shape the future. These actions are dictated by tacit knowledge
• Companies are social institutions. Their actions influence society and vice versa. If the company has a benefit to offer, then society is likely to embrace it
• part of being a wise leader is knowing how to grasp the essence (assess/articulate/act on questions such as what is happening now? What are the future consequences of plan A or B?)
• human interaction is crucial for wise leaders to generate new ideas
• a company will only be successful if everyone is onboard it’s the same purpose. Wise leaders communicate their purpose through stories and metaphors
• sometimes it’s necessary for wise leaders to use politics to rally and motivate the company
• wise leaders need to share their passion, inspirations and knowledge through mentorship, apprenticeship and encourage leadership distribution