Wisdom

The first half of our lives is influenced by our tuition, paying for access to schools and teachers that allow us to accumulate knowledge. The second half of our life is influenced by our intuition, the gut instinct that is a conduit to our wisdom. Yet, while we’re used to paying tuition, how do we invest in our intuition (that’s a great topic for an MEA workshop, right?)?

Gravitas and levity are Latin words that represent seriousness and lightness, respectively. The wisest people I know intuitively recognize when a group could use a bit more of one or the other.

Recently, I found myself wrestling with the skepticism of an experienced luxury hotel professional. During his visit to our sprawling 2,566-acre MEA ranch campus near Santa Fe, he remarked, “You’re quite a risk taker.” Indeed, he wasn't wrong, but his tone felt like it might be less cheerleading and more cautionary. This led me to a day of introspection, pondering whether our ambitious project was a leap too far into the realm of the unconventional.

Chip’s Thoughts: Love the photo in Douglas’ guest post as I feel like I was there with him on this roadtrip.

Chip’s Editorial Comment: Jeff Hamaoui, one of my co-founders, is a poet and deep thinker. I always feel blessed when he channels something like this and WhatsApp’s it to me.

In the past year as we evaluated MEA’s midlife curriculum, we could see that there were three key pillars under the umbrella of helping people to reframe their relationship with aging. The first two were obvious: navigating transitions and cultivating purpose. As for the third one, it was a little more abstract and we weren’t quite sure about the language for “owning wisdom,” but it might be the most profound of the three as it’s something that gets more valuable with age.

After 65 years of the “knowledge economy” (Peter Drucker coined the term “knowledge workers” 65 years ago), we’re about to be ushered into the “wisdom economy” in which artificial intelligence is the commodity and human wisdom is the valued resource.

Prioritize Return on Wisdom (ROW) over traditional knowledge. Learn from seasoned leadership, and collaborative learning. Essential for success in evolving markets.

You’re probably familiar with the acronym ROI, also known as Return on Investment (or Ripples of Impact in the MEA world).

“To know how to grow old is the master work of wisdom, and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living.” - Henri Frédéric Amiel