Practical Wisdom, Leadership and Culture: Indigenous, Asian and Middle-Eastern Perspectives

Description

Despite the growing attention towards the importance of practical wisdom in business today, little research has been done about the concept of practical wisdom in the Indigenous, Asian and Middle-Eastern traditions. Contemporary studies of wisdom are dominated by the philosophical traditions of Western thought, which is based on the ancient Greek concepts of wisdom. Much less is known about how practical wisdom, as illuminated by these other traditions, can be implemented in today’s organizational settings. This book thus fills an important gap in understanding wisdom and how it is applied in a poly-cultural world. Wisdom is culturally bound. Wisdom is poly-cultural and interweaves individuality and communality. Practical wisdom is inextricably connected to many needs of contemporary personal and professional life. Moreover, the increasingly growing poly-culturality around the world requires a better understanding of how practical wisdom is understood in different cultures and traditions. Accordingly, there is a need for a) poly-cultural understanding of the concept of wisdom and b) the role of practical wisdom in a world crying out for wisdom. This book underlines the importance of developing a poly-cultural and interdisciplinary understanding of the concept of practical wisdom in today’s complex environment. The book offers significant insight into the implications of the non-Western traditions of wisdom and how such an understanding of the non-Western traditions can help us better and more critically understand and appropriately address new multi-faceted complex emerging phenomena. While the Western traditions offer valuable insight into the implication of wisdom in modern life, an integrated view that brings together the Western and non-Western traditions can provide a more critical and practical insight into how to apply practical wisdom in a contemporary poly-cultural environment. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Contents Contributor bios Foreword Introducing Practical Wisdom, Leadership and Culture: Indigenous, Asian and Middle-Eastern Perspectives SECTION I The Indigenous perspective 1 Ecological sustainability and practical wisdom from die Maasai and Hadza people in East Africa 2 The wisdom of inclusion: Maori leadership and management practices that make a world of difference 3 The wisdom of differentiating between Indigenous leader and Indigenous leadership 4 Native American transplanar wisdom: a pragmatic view and application 5 Conceptions of wisdom in rural Uganda: a different view of what's important in life SECTION II The Asian perspective 6 Fostering contemplative and spiritual growth: revisiting Confucianism and wisdom learned from T'oegye Yi Hwang (퇴계 이황) for educators 7 Personal wisdom as reflected in the Vietnamese classic literature The Tale of Kiê'u 8 On endeavor-based wisdom: an East Asian Confucian perspective in a poly-cultural world 9 Wisdom: a Philippine perspective SECTION III The Middle-Eastern perspective 10 Practical wisdom in Ancient Iran 11 The concept of wisdom in the Arab-Islamic traditions 12 The wisdom of good thought and deed: the Persian perspective Index