The Wisdom of Foolishness

Leadership is learning. Learning to lead comes from the discipline of self-observation and self-reflection. A great leader knows not only how to grow from their own mistakes but also from the mistakes that others make. Some might question this approach to leadership because although you need to allow enough space for those you are responsible for to make their own mistakes, their is a point where the leader must guard the organization from disaster. In some ways this is true but in other ways, pre-mature intervention and unnecessary control might forfeit an opportunity to learn a powerful lesson. Sometimes we have a greater chance to be success not from following in footsteps of those who have made great decisions, but by doing the opposite of those who have made poor decisions. The discipline of self-observation and reflection compels us to ask the question,"What drives my decision-making process and how would this affect me if I was in a similar situation?" The writer of Proverbs 24 wrote,"

I went past the field of a sluggard,
past the vineyard of someone who has no sense;
thorns had come up everywhere,
the ground was covered with weeds,
and the stone wall was in ruins.
I applied my heart to what I observed
and learned a lesson from what I saw:
A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
and poverty will come on you like a thief
and scarcity like an armed man. (vs 30-34).

There is tremendous wisdom in this proverb. And what rings the loudest is the idea of applying what is observed to the heart, which means that learning must become transformational. There are somethings that you learn that should literally change your life. Even something as strange as gaining wisdom from foolishness.