A main purpose of the Socratic Genius series of articles posted here is to make the argument that managers should look to their own interests when accosted by gurus bearing advice. The hope was to encourage the development of a constructive skepticism that would lead to new ideas being forced to prove their worth by opening up their conceptual makeup to examination and approval.
The post in the series that most directly addresses this concern is called the Socratic Attitude. It is an effort to explain what default view managers should adopt regarding all the general fads or specific prescriptions flooding the management landscape at any particular moment.
But Wally Bock, author of Three Star Leadership, in a recent newsletter offered (as a separate, free, and exclusive service) to subscribers at his site, has provided a way to view the issue that I think captures it in a particularly illuminating, yet concise, way. He calls it the Socratic Oath.
Wally notes that the central idea of the Hippocratic Oath is that in the face of distracting and potentially damaging influences intruding on their ability to see the way forward clearly, doctors should, essentially, focus on doing no harm. Similarly, when managers are assailed by energetically promoted advice of perhaps questionable intent or relevance, they should adopt a robustly wary view of it, and of the assumptions of all sorts upon which it is based.
Like Socrates, managers should examine such advice until they understand its full nature, implications, and relevance. Only then should they determine its usefulness to them and their organizations, and make decisions regarding adaptation and employment.
Plato had Socrates say, in The Apology, that the unexamined life is not worth living. Don’t you, as a manager, agree that unexamined advice is not worth implementing?
Why not adopt the Socratic Attitude? And, why not begin by taking the Socratic Oath?
—
Today’s tip: You may want to stop over to see this coverage from BBC News about new findings in the topic of brain activity, alertness levels, and mistakes on the job. The connections are intriguing - and the implications for potential preventative measures may be a bit creepy.
—
We appreciate your visits here very much, and would love to have you as a regular reader. Please take a moment to subscribe, either by email or via an RSS reader, using the options available just below or at the upper right. And welcome aboard!
Similar Posts:
Technorati Tags: manager, guru, advice, skepticism, fad, management, Wally Bock, Socratic Oath, Hippocratic Oath, Socrates, advice, organization, decision, employment, Plato, The Apology, BBC News
Sphere: Related Content
ON DECK
One Trackback/Pingback
[...] Wally Bock’s concept of the Socratic Oath. The more obvious a prescription sounds, the more pernicious it may actually be, the more important [...]
Post a Comment