Intelligence, Acceptance and Wisdom By Mark Khim L. Baguio

Intelligence, Acceptance and Wisdom

A Review on the article “Teaching Smart People How to Learn”

One of the professors in a certain university once said that after he finished his Ph.D. degree he realized that lots of things he still have to learn. It’s not more about intelligence but it’s more of becoming wiser.

The article of Chris Argyris “Teaching Smart People How to Learn” reflects a scenario that is almost present in every organizational set-up where there are managers and subordinates or leaders and followers. Set-ups where there are few smart people guiding and leading the ship while and the not so-smart people driving the wheels of operations.  These smart people regard themselves very intelligent and key-minds of successes. They know almost every effective strategy and have learned different leadership styles from every book they read inside and outside academic premises.

In his discussion addressing the learning dilemma about well-educated, high-powered, high-commitment professionals who occupy key leadership positions, the problems were suggestively solved through having an open conversation with approachable confrontation. According to Argyris, most senior managers are almost always successful at what they do and thus rarely experience failure which means they lack the overview and understanding of learning from failure especially when confronted in front of their CEO, peers, and subordinates or even with their clients. Their educational achievements sometimes are the obstacles in a learning process of accepting failures and learning from their mistakes. These obstacles that put them so high and that makes them so hard to step down and learned that something still needs to improve and to consider. These achievements have inflected their social and working behaviours particularly in a corporate set-up.

A review of behaviour of each manager is to make so they can reason more effectively and learn to learn says Argyris. Some smart people have become egocentric particularly because of their high credentials. Some could hardly accept mistakes and see failures coming in their way. So whenever their strategies went wrong, they become defensive and unable to see the effect. This is what usually happens when their pride is hit because of failure that they rarely expect to happen. They blame everyone involved including sometimes even the process that has long proven effective and efficient. They need someone or on something to blame with to do away things away from their performance as a manager. They are afraid to be the center of the failure and their capabilities as smart mangers might be questioned.

According to Argyris the change must start from the top should a firm wants to become a learning organization in which managers and professionals stop reasoning defensively and learn from their mistakes. Cooperation, humbleness and acceptance are characteristics expected from them in the process. Transformation should begin from senior managers so they could serve as models that can be emulated from below. This transformation is critical to top management knowing that subordinates down the line look up on how they behave especially during confrontation with their failure and mistakes. Even the way they behave as they accept and transform to a kind of manager that is willing to learn. Besides resistance to acceptance is usually an issue to those egoistic usually from top level management. But when they realize the noble intention of the learning process, they will learn that it is not about being intelligent but being wise when one accepts failure and learn from their mistakes. But the desires for success must be enlisted to top priorities. The organizational objectives and goals is the main reason why one must accept and learn.

Surely this learning creates harmony and openly-communicated cooperation as a team. Critical feedbacks from each member involving each performance will be addressed without fear and hesitations particularly of confrontation. Learning comes smoothly without reservation against self and others. Review on behaviour plus the required strategy will help effectively in addressing every individual particularly to managers alike. While it is true that the learning process will not happen overnight, thus it is more important that common understanding about the goals and objective in this learning process is precisely emphasize to all members. Individual and organizational goals must be in congruence so that both will go the same direction.

While intelligence is apparent from these smart people, wisdom sometimes is difficult to expect. Being intelligent is more of a manger but being wise is much of a transformational leader. The aspiration for success is both rewarding and risky. The risk for failing, the feeling of shame and guilt when things fail to meet highly regarded standard is the saddest part that creates the attitude of a defensive manager. But a wise leader always spares a room for improvement which makes them wiser. In the learning process, acceptance of the limitations for every mistake is an opener to the whole point of learning how to learn. Personal ego should be set aside for a greater success being aspired. Acceptance is a learned behaviour that every manager must emerge into. Being a manager is not just all about being the one followed or the one who knows best in a team.

Learning comes from different sources but learning is an identified ability or a skill that one must master. This is beyond reading leadership books or attending workshops and seminar about how to become an effective leader or manager. The difficult part in the learning process is to teach them how learn. This is part of the process that must appear with pure intentions of good motives that must be communicated with emphasis. Intentions and motivations must be rooted to the ideas and reasons on why this learning process must be achieved and that full understanding of behaviours of every member involve must be given enough consideration to avoid confusion and pride-hitting. Unless these smart people have emerged into holistic transformational leaders then the learning process won’t have to be difficult and won’t take long. The listening skill of a leader is also quite important together with preliminary diagnosis to address issues on failures and mistakes without confusion and following two standards. With these, teaching smart people how to learn won’t be that hard.