Wisdom in the Workplace

Zacher, Hannes; Kunzmann, Ute

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-20287-3_10

Wisdom in the Workplace

Hannes Zacher⁴ &
Ute Kunzmann⁴

Chapter
First Online: 03 July 2019

1115 Accesses
1 Citations
1 Altmetric

Abstract

In this chapter, we focus on the role of wisdom for addressing and potentially solving challenging problems in the workplace. We first describe different conceptualizations and operationalizations of wisdom in the literature and summarize previous theoretical and empirical research on wisdom and work. Second, we outline key problems of modern workplaces at multiple levels, including individual employees (i.e., stress, lack of meaning), teams and leadership (i.e., incivility, abusive supervision), and organizations (i.e., lack of corporate ethical, social, and environmental responsibility). Finally, we conclude by discussing how wisdom can be activated, nurtured, and implemented in modern workplaces to deal with these problems.

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Institute of Psychology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
Hannes Zacher & Ute Kunzmann

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Hannes Zacher
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Department of Human Development, College of Human Ecology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
Robert J. Sternberg
Center for Practical Wisdom, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
Howard C. Nusbaum
Department of Psychology, University of Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt, Austria
Judith Glück

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Zacher, H., Kunzmann, U. (2019). Wisdom in the Workplace. In: Sternberg, R., Nusbaum, H., Glück, J. (eds) Applying Wisdom to Contemporary World Problems. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20287-3_10

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20287-3_10
Published: 03 July 2019
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