Cranmore Foundation Living Wisdom

New inspiration from wisdom traditions This article outlines the activities of Cranmore Foundation and describes a five-part process through which professionals and the business community can translate the world’s wisdom traditions into practical and contemporary design principles. The foundation seeks to inspire and create sustainable solutions for the business community and society at large.

New thinking for better business solutions The current economic, ecological and cultural problems challenging our globalised world indicate the urgent need to reassess the long-term viability of our existing paradigm. These ‘wicked problems’1 require fundamentally new thinking in our approaches to governance, finance, ecology, education and culture. It is widely recognised that our value system is in crisis and that collective reflection is essential to our search for answers. Recent trends in business thinking have, to some extent, taken up this need for reassessment.

For example, the Harvard Business Review reports Michael Porter and Mark Kramer as calling for the creation of new corporate social values.2 Integration of aesthetics and spirituality in leadership and management techniques is advocated by business schools like French INSEAD and the Dutch leadership institute De Baak. Further, Gilbert Lenssen and Ted Roosevelt Malloch at the EABIS Colloquium3 advocate a ‘practical wisdom project.’4 These developments are part of a wider trend that recognises the need for leadership to broaden its scope to become multi-dimensional and cross-disciplinary by embracing aesthetics, the arts and spirituality.

This new approach to business leadership has enormous potential to influence the way in which global problems are addressed. Corporations make up over half of the world’s one hundred largest economic bodies.5 Corporations are therefore well positioned to play a role in responding to today’s challenges – not only by crafting business policies and strategies aimed at creating long-term social value, but also by their ability to craft new and agile solutions. In this regard corporations may be better positioned than nation states in their ability to develop new solutions. As such, the next generation of business leaders will be defined by a broad strategic vision that extends far beyond the immediate demands for short-term profitability.

1 Wicked Problems - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_problem 2 Creating Shared Value – Harvard Business Review - http://hbr.org/2011/01/the-big-idea-creating-shared-value/ar/1 3 EABIS Colloquium - http://www.eabis.org/events/annual-colloquia/2011-colloquium.html 4 The Practical Wisdom Project - http://www.eabis.org/projects/project-detail-view.html?uid=16 5 Table – Institute of Policy Studies - http://www.corporations.org/system/top100.html

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Cranmore Foundation proposes that the development away from a narrow, profit-only view of business towards a business model that creates shared value6 and social wellbeing would be supported through the use of wisdom traditions. Wisdom traditions describe vital universal principles governing all aspects of reality applicable at any scale and in any situation. These principles underlie the structure and dynamics of individual and corporate existence. The foundation’s assertion is that these universal principles can be ‘unlocked’ and reformulated as ‘design principles’ for practical application in business and society. The use of wisdom tradition design principles may help create a new quality of solution that provides genuine sustainability.

Wisdom traditions as a source Cranmore Foundation uses the term ‘wisdom traditions’ to refer to repositories of human knowledge that provide deep insight into human existence and the universe at large. Although commonly viewed within silos of formal religious structures7, the universal nature of all wisdom traditions makes them relevant and useful tools for personal and organisational development by all persons, regardless of existing religious, cultural or other affiliations.

The practical dimension to many wisdom traditions is well illustrated by the provision of comprehensive practices for use in such domains as: health and healing; architecture and the built environment; and leadership and governance. However, when viewed from a modern perspective, these traditions appear to have a historic and cultural bias which until now has kept them outside of mainstream solutions. The activities of the foundation are specifically aimed at unlocking the underlying universal knowledge of wisdom traditions in such a way that it becomes available for the creation of next generation corporations, better educational systems and more sustainable economies.

The premise upon which Cranmore operates is that the knowledge found in wisdom traditions introduces a different quality of thinking which supports the creation of sustainable, harmonious systems. Such systems have a ‘least harm—most good’ quality that fosters the wellbeing of all its relationships. When systems are harmoniously aligned to universal laws, they are also in accord with deeper forces that support them, resulting in a noticeable unexpected ease of operation. This synergy grants an ‘effortless effort’ and an enhanced quality to activities throughout their execution.

6 Porter, Kramer (Harvard Business Review) - http://hbr.org/2011/01/the-big-idea-creating-shared-value/ar/1

7 For example, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism or Shintoism

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Unlocking wisdom There are several reasons why wisdom traditions today may seem impractical and esoteric. These are as follows:

1. The use of religious, spiritual, allegorical and mythical language can seem far from the practical reality of business life.

2. The real knowledge contained in the traditions was often hidden from view on purpose and only available to initiates or those in power.

3. People interested in and associated with wisdom traditions are most often not active in the domain of business.

Notwithstanding these obstacles, there are sensible reasons to utilise wisdom traditions in modern life. These ancient teachings describe fundamental truths about the nature of life and the dynamics of success and sustainability in any and all situations – including the competitive realities of business life.

For example, wisdom practices such as ‘mindfulness’ have much to offer the business world. Texts like Sun Tzu’s ‘Art of War’ have been widely read by the business community. More often than not such texts are interesting reading and offer a measure of advice and insight, but in their original format are not easily accessible as manuals for practical action. The result is that their use in the realities of modern life are often lost to the casual reader.

Cranmore Foundation aims to go deeper into the texts to research a potential vital connection between wisdom texts and modern business practices. This means making them available, accessible, and easily understood to all audiences, even to those who may be unfamiliar or uncomfortable with the original cultural context. The work of the foundation results in practical design principles for business and society that contain the essence of knowledge found in wisdom traditions. Applying wisdom principles leads to success in the dealings of daily life. To achieve this we need more than a translation of the text or a study of the culture from which they originate. Those involved in the process need to empathetically understand the deeper structure of the wisdom to carefully rephrase it into useful modern terms.

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To unlock these universal principles for reformulation into design principles—without losing their essence—requires a specific process we call ‘deep reading’. Deep reading entails five areas of effort and talent in a five part collaborative process described below.

Connecting inspiration and application: a five part process

Connecting wisdom and reality

The aim of the process is to create a connection between the knowledge inherent in wisdom traditions and a practical application of that knowledge in day-to-day life. This requires an iterative step-by-step process of identifying, translating, reformulating and realising the principles contained wisdom traditions for practical application in the daily activities of society and business. Each step in this process is essential and adds its own value.

Culture-bearers: expressing and sharing living wisdom

The knowledge in wisdom traditions may have a different character than what is customarily referred to as knowledge in western terms. Not only is it the result of millennia of experience, application and refinement, but its source often lies in the direct inner experience of highly evolved spiritual individuals. It may be knowledge that is not easily acquired through empiric observation, logic or research, but through inner reflection and realisation.

To reach its goal, the project explicitly creates a space for other epistemologies that are found at the heart of wisdom traditions, considering them to be vital to the quality of the work. The conceptual depth and richness of this type of knowledge requires the same living experience to decode it. Immersion in the living experience of this knowledge is different from an external observation of the processes that provide it. It is for this reason that reference to living knowledge is essential, because translations into modern contexts for practical application may require an expression of that knowledge in a form not seen before. Collaboration with ‘culture-bearers’ or people who have developed spiritual practices would therefore add dimension to this research, enhancing the quality and authenticity of the project’s results.

culture bearers

scholars

rhapsodic thinkers

designers

business people

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Scholars: deep reflection on authentic reformulation

Over the course of history, various teachers, prophets, and holy persons have utilised various teaching methodologies according to the cultural, social and economic needs of their respective communities at a given point in time. This does not detract from the universality of the message. Rather, it is illustrative of the adaptability and timelessness of basic truths and principles by which all can live.

In recent decades, many ancient texts have become widely available and new material and sources have surfaced thanks to scholarship, the ubiquity of culture-bearers and the digital revolution. To unlock the depth and richness of the universal principles found in wisdom traditions, a careful study of these resources is necessary. The contribution of scholars knowledgeable in these various traditions is essential. Scholarly reflections on the history, cultural origin, and subtle nuances of core concepts of these traditions are invaluable to the work. It assists in giving context to, and deepening our understanding of, the living experience and helps ensure that the crafting of design principles is authentic to the underlying universal principles and not divergent from the original cultures that gave voice to them.

Rhapsodic thinkers: visualising how knowledge might be useful to business

As noted above, the phrasing and wording of the original principle is often specific to the culture and tradition it developed in. To create universal applicability it needs to be understandable for those outside the original culture and tradition. The original concepts need to be translated carefully so that the essence, structure and dynamics characterising their meaning are maintained. An authentic translation is especially useful when other people have easy access to that knowledge in a way that allows them to create new ways of working. Such a translation needs a deep empathetic understanding of the original concept that also combines with an ability to think in terms of new domains of practical application. We describe such thinkers as having ‘rhapsodic minds’ and their contribution is essential to the process.

Designers: phrasing the knowledge into design principles

It is often the case that principles like those found in wisdom traditions may appear too abstract for immediate use in specific situations. For instance, Vedic thinking extols the virtue of tapasya, a Sanskrit word that can be translated as ‘the fire of austerity’. How does tapasya apply in business? If we take austerity as frugality – we have a simple interpretation. But a deep reading of tapasya gives a richer understanding of the principle that applies not only in finance but also in product design. A deep reading interpretation of tapasya tells us that the universal principle behind tapasya is “an economy of effort in the pursuit of integrity and purity of standards”. A contemporary example of this principle in action is Steve Jobs drive (austerity and hard work) in eliminating extraneous elements that resulted in elegant, simple, yet highly functional design.

The universal principles found in wisdom traditions need to be reformulated in appropriate terms for different domains. These include organisational management, change management, human resource management, financial procedures, new regulations and policies or new models of education. This reformulation requires the contribution of people that are aware of the needs in

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these fields and are capable of creating conceptual reformulations that are inspiring, without compromising the depth of the original knowledge and its processes. Designers enrich the five part process by engineering the use of principles, values and ideas appropriate to the needs of specific domains.

Business people: creating the opportunity for application

The success of the process lies in the creation of vital solutions for society and business. It depends on the active contribution and work of people in these domains. This means taking up these new operational principles and finding ways to integrate them into existing products, services and systems. An effective integration would deliver a new quality in systems that would deliver improved outputs that do less harm to those involved – immediate stakeholders, extended stakeholders and large scale environments symbolised as an ideal by the universe at large.

The quality of the process The process of combining the characteristics of living knowledge with real life application poses new challenges for its contributors. It means doing what they usually do, but for a different reason and for a different result. It requires a deep familiarity with the concepts as understood in their own area of expertise, while also being able to effectively communicate the same in another domain: it combines the sensitivity of artists with the acuity and analysis of professionals.

In summary Cranmore Foundation recognises that the knowledge in wisdom traditions offers us a resource for the creation of truly and deeply sustainable solutions. The foundation sees the process described above as an opportunity to create a new class of business – the next generation corporation. Through its work the foundation aims to create awareness and a sense of urgency for the need of this type of effort. It aims to connect business and wisdom traditions to develop modern practical applications of ancient, yet timeless knowledge. We invite interested parties to join the effort.

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