without integration, knowledge cannot become wisdom
knowledge, integration, and wisdom, and why making space to integrate what we learn matters as much as the content itself
this was the first reflection and integration session for this year's program. every time we run this program we have added more of these sessions, and now have four woven throughout the year. we have come to appreciate how time and space for knowledge integration is just as essential as the content and practices, to developing systems leadership.
in these sessions the format slows and holds space to sit with what we've learned so far, reflect on its meaning, how it might inform our work, and surface an opportunity to practice.
in this first of four, we began as we often do by unpacking our language and meaning to develop a shared understanding. what do we mean by knowledge, integration and wisdom?
knowledge as awareness and understanding that we derive from study, experience, or perception. importantly in our program we recognize knowledge as coming from diverse disciplines and ways of knowing, not just intellectual knowledge. with the inclusion of knowledge from perception, we also recognize the subjectivity of our knowing.
integration as the process by which new knowledge is considered alongside what we already hold and then reassembled into a new and larger whole. with conscious attention in this process we enable more active and meaningful wisdom to emerge.
wisdom as practical application, where knowledge is considered against our context's nuance, tradeoffs and uncertainty. it is our ability to ethically discern what and how our knowledge can be applied, a place where "knowledge is not just possessed but embodied.*" in systems that are complex, where uncertainty is high, this is persistent and fundamental work.
a final observation: knowledge, integration and wisdom together form an active practice. where we must be in pursuit of new knowledge, bring conscious attention and energy to integration, and apply our wisdom to surface new knowledge through experience. as always, a learning loop.
what new knowledge are you integrating to expand your wisdom for practice?
