“Why Future Business Leaders Need Philosophy”*

“In order to successfully navigate in an uncertain, volatile and increasingly complex business environment, a supplementary approach to rational problem-solving and optimal decision-making is required.

The rising demand for both creative and concrete problem-solving as well as abstract and strategic thinking indicates the necessity to broaden the reflectivity-horizon of the narrow business perspective that future business leaders will determine their decisions within. Business tends to seek one rationalised conclusion at the expense of others. This closes opportunities, rather than opens them. Philosophy, on the other hand, can through critical reasoning continually question and rethink the assumed certainties and its basic premises. In this sense, business and philosophy might seem poles apart at first glance and their interdisciplinary potential has for long been largely unrecognized on traditional business schools, but this is about to change.” - AndersPoulsen*

“Poles apart” versus “interdisciplinary”, opposites versus incorporation, compartmentalization/specialization versus integration; the pendulum is swinging back in the right direction

And “swinging” or movement is the key. Notice the opening line in the above quote, “…to successfully navigate…” Our use of words like navigate and metaphors related to movement when discussing business is not unusual. We avoid getting “stuck” and we spend a lot of time choosing the best direction to take as we navigate our course, both personal and professional. Both courses need to be on the same map. If we design separate maps, we have started our journey on the wrong foot.

It is becoming clearer to me why beBee makes sense.

“What is beBee? - beBee is a network for maximum affinity between users, specialized by fields, which allows users to connect and share experiences, skills and opportunities based on their interests.”

There is an embedded acknowledgment in beBee’s definition that we, as professionals, are made up of more than our profession. A holistic perspective is not just a “west coast” alternative way of looking at things. It simply implies that we are the sum of all our parts and that this whole is greater than its parts. This perspective leads to the discussion of what I consider the most important factor in achieving success:

As professionals, the one factor that can potentially make the difference in achieving your goals and experiencing success is integration. 

And of all the elements that benefit from being integrated, you are the main one. The difference between the personal you and the professional you is context. The “who” you are engages with others and the world around you in the same way; it is the situation that changes, not you. Your values, personality, abilities, hopes, vision, energy, outlook, and so much more are there for you and with you at all times. Understanding the context in which you find yourself, the focus and needs, will influence how you engage. But appreciating that there is a core you, will enable you to “move” in, out and across the myriad of daily experiences.

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What is the connection between philosophy and integration?

“Philosophy is like trying to open a safe with a combination lock: each little adjustment of the dials seems to achieve nothing, only when everything is in place does the door open.” - Ludwig Wittgenstein

If we discuss the “chicken and the egg” question, which came first, business or philosophy, the answer doesn’t necessarily have to be linear. The two have existed concurrently since humans developed social units; communities, villages, towns and cities.

“Philosophy (from Greek φιλοσοφία, philosophia, literally "love of wisdom”…Historically, "philosophy" encompassed any body of knowledge.[14] From the time of Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle to the 19th century, "natural philosophy" encompassed astronomy, medicine and physics…In the 19th century, the growth of modern research universities led academic philosophy and other disciplines to professionalize and specialize… In the modern era, some investigations that were traditionally part of philosophy became separate academic disciplines, including psychology, sociology, linguistics and economics.” - Wikipedia

With philosophy the pendulum was on the side of integration. With the breaking down of philosophy into its individual new disciplines, the momentum took us towards specialization. Today, being in the divide is not working for us; it is artificial and limiting.

What are we integrating?

1. Our relationship with nature:  Humans are organic, biologically based units. At the same time as we are able to develop technological devices to enhance our lives, our dependence on our natural environment has become more evident.

“We like to lock ourselves inside our office buildings and comfy houses and deny the fact that we’re even part of the natural world, but it seems like denying this connection only works to our detriment.” – Kate Good

We are sensory beings. Sensory systems differ in humans and animals. We each have our own range and capacity to perceive sensory input. I often speak of the importance of being aware of our own "sensory fingerprint"; how we make sense of our world and our engagement within it.

We turn to nature and “mimic” senses which are available to other species but not to ourselves; we may not have the ability of bats to see in the dark but we can mimic their sense of “hearing” or echo location.

“The purpose of the Biomimicry Institute is to naturalize biomimicry in the culture by promoting the transfer of ideas, designs, and strategies from biology to sustainable human systems design.” Janine Benyus, Co-founder of the Biomimicry Institute asks, “What if every time I started to invent something, I asked how would nature solve this?”

2. Our relationships with others:  Reconnecting with our innate non-verbal language which involves what we hear and what we see, anything from tone of voice to facial expressions and body language is crucial when we engage with others.

"Allocentrism is the practice of trying to see things from others' points of view. This is very useful in business just as it is in life. There are many possible uses: negotiation, persuasion, teamwork, sales, marketing, and just about every other aspect of business." - Tom Murcko

3. Our relationship with ourselves:  Having a “wise heart” and “listening to your gut”, are not only great examples of integration but are being confirmed by scientific studies.

The triad of the heart/spirit, mind and body is also proving itself to be true in the importance of understanding their connection and how they influence each other.

Work-life Balance

I visualize my life as a Stradivarius and each string an aspect of "work" and "lifestyle". As such, I need to keep the tension of each string just right in order to have it produce the tone needed to harmonize with each other; I need to keep this fine instrument properly tuned. Music and balance is not such a far stretch. The same organ for your sense of hearing is also responsible for your sense of balance. Harmonizing is a form of integration.

If you keep the things you are trying to balance in their separate place, the only thing you can actually balance is their “weight”. You are still in the divide. Get off the scale and integrate.

Using Philosophy as an integrator.

“As long as there have been men and they have lived, they have all felt this tragic ambiguity of their condition, but as long as there have been philosophers and they have thought, most of them have tried to mask it.” 

― Simone de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity

Ambiguity divides, philosophical thought integrates. But we can see in de Beauvoir’s quote that the potential has to be revealed, not masked.

Rachel Sugar writes:  "It's true that most high-powered jobs won't have you curled up in a cubical debating the finer points of Heidegger, but it's also true that the skills you learn studying those ideas — how to think critically, write well, analyze complicated concepts, and sell ideas — can pay off in the business world."

As long as we are integrated, we are all philosophers. Our integration is dependent on movement; we cannot afford to stop thinking, feeling and sensing.

Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it. - André Gid