Ph.D., Antioch University, 2014, Leadership and Change

A wiser socio-economic system, by design and not by chance, may well benefit from a series of design principles drawn from the well of wisdom. This dissertation focused on a refined set of eight components of wisdom through research designed to explore if, how, and when they are invoked by a group of experts participating in a futures discussion about organizations in their field of practice, American higher education. The aim was to explore a set of wisdom-centered design principles (denoted as Wise By Design [WBD]) for social innovation, specifically in the design of organizations that would thrive in the future. After four rounds of engagement with a panel of experts with approximately 500 years of accumulated experience in the field, six conclusions were reached: a) an organization could be seen as wise; if leadership, management, and innovation practices are augmented by wisdom; b) the use of design principles based on wisdom and futures inquiry could help organizations develop wise processes; c) wise people develop the ability to take an objectivized balanced perspective when confronted with situations, decisions, or requests for advice; d) wisdom could be described as a multi-channel sense-and-respond adaptive system with the higher purpose of flourishing of self and others; e) interoperability and dual hybridity, both administrative and academic, could enable institutions of higher education to thrive in the future; and f) this field of research could lead into a discussion on the value of exploring artificial wisdom. The electronic version of this Dissertation is at Ohiolink ETD Center, http://etd.ohiolink.edu and AURA http://aura.antioch.edu/

Committee: Alan Guskin Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Jon Wergin Ph.D. (Committee Member); Laurien Alexandre Ph.D. (Committee Member); R. Eugene Rice Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Management; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior