Alan Briskin

“All learning arises through doing, but the most frequent problem is the “learning,” not the “doing.” Our organizations and societies are full of doing but deficient in learning. I believe there is no more telling indicator of the absence of collective wisdom than the inability to learn as we go. It is characterized by rigidness and dogma. It is characterized by low trust and the inability to talk about difficult subjects where people must recognize their shortfalls. It is characterized by maintaining a façade of confidence and competence that masks insecurity and fear of failure. Conversely, collective wisdom is most evident in quiet confidence that our “not knowing” is our strength, that the ability to ask deep questions is more important than offering superficial answers— and that imagination, commitment, patience and openness, and trust in one another will consistently trump IQ over the long haul.”
― Alan Briskin, The Power of Collective Wisdom: And the Trap of Collective Folly

“Every spirit builds itself a house,” wrote Emerson in the crescendo that ends Nature, the book that sprouted from his walk in the Jardin des Plantes, and beyond its house a world; and beyond its world, a heaven. Know then, that the world exists for you. For you is the phenomenon perfect. What we are, that only can we see. All that Adam had, all that Caesar could, you have and can do. Adam called his house, heaven and earth; Caesar called his house, Rome; you perhaps call yours, a cobbler’s trade; a hundred acres of ploughed land; or a scholar’s garret. Yet line for line and point for point, your dominion is as great as theirs, though without fine names. Build, therefore, your own world.22 This was the Emersonian stone that rippled outward into the stream of collective consciousness. Each of us is a creator of worlds, each of us individually and collectively has the power to reflect back a vision of truth, justice, beauty, love, and freedom. We should not fear what others think of us. Skip your stone across the generations of time. Each of us is blessed.”
― Alan Briskin, The Power of Collective Wisdom: And the Trap of Collective Folly