Wisdom, democracy and instant networking

We have talked about democracy as a concept since the Greek’s coined the term thousands of years ago. In some parts of the world, democracy has even become the ‘civilised’ way to govern. This year, for the first time, these parts of the world have actually seen the full power of democracy at work. Personal devices have opened up the opportunity for us to understand crowds. The majority won’t necessarily have more wisdom, but they can indicate the values and feelings that need to be considered when making a wise decision.

Democracy so far has been focused on Voting for political influence, but it has not delivered on the promise of equal rights and equal influence for all. Social networking is doing that. Global influence is being wielded by ordinary people who can form an enormously powerful group at the push of a button on a device.

People have voiced their dissatisfaction in the past; it built until there was an earthquake of violent movement (think French revolution or the fall of the Berlin wall). Now, the quakes are many and more frequent as tension is released regularly. Authorities realise the feelings of the people immediately and forcefully (think UK riots and even the recent NZ All Black fan’s damaging response to Addidas).

Hopefully, those in power will learn quickly that the feelings of people are as important as academic political or commercial logic. People look for ‘fairness’ first in any situation, not logic. Intellectual rationalisation in either politics or business will not prevent this immediate feedback from ordinary people who feel strongly. Logic is good, but it should be built on a fair foundation.

The crowds themselves may not so much offer wisdom – they will simply ‘hit out’ as a group.  The opportunity is for leaders to see indicators of shared values and widely held feelings in order to use wisdom themselves. For example, a government supporting rich bankers while allowing a majority of citizens to lose wealth and jobs will not be perceived as fair by a large section of the population.

The emphasis on leaders with intellectual ability must now give way to the necessity for practical wisdom – that ability to make the right choice in the situation for the right reason. Experience, empathy and intuition are the keys to being able to see a much bigger picture and ‘join the dots’. Complex and appropriate connections require more than logic.

Luckily, technology has now given us all the ability to get real time feedback. Politicians and marketers need the wisdom to understand what the people perceive as ‘fair’ based on shared underlying values. We have moved away from the time when a few influential people could control the masses – whether by guns or advertising. Our human rationale is underpinned by emotion and wisdom is ultimately more crucial than intellectualism.