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themselves, no matter where they may be found. Wisdom entails
having enough experience and perspective to spot such patterns and
trends so that various bodies of knowledge can be put in context,
combined and applied appropriately. Inevitably, wisdom requires a

deep, perhaps intuitive understanding of human nature – of ambition,
styles of intelligence, human motivations, etc. – enough to allow the
possessor of wisdom to make judgments about representations of

knowledge that lie outside of his or her own expertise. This is how we
can escape from the dilemma of the need to make judgments about
experts who posses bodies of knowledge that we lack. Wisdom amounts
to something more than “street smarts,” but the sharpness of judgment

implied by the phrase “street smarts” is encompassed by wisdom.
Your grandparents may perhaps have been short on book smarts
(“knowledge”) but long on wisdom. In an “information age,”

technology cannot confer wisdom: wisdom takes more time to develop
and cultivate than even knowledge does (how many people do you
know with advanced degrees who lack wisdom or wise judgment?). For

this reason, wisdom is at an even higher premium, perhaps, than it has
ever been, and when you find a good, credible source of wisdom (a
person) who can help you make good judgments and grow your own

store of wisdom, that’s a relationship to build and hold firm. This is
why really good mentoring is so valuable, and why the most effective
executives and leaders are extremely adept at understanding other
people. Wisdom combines the seasoned experience of connecting and

reviewing bodies of knowledge, together with a genuine grasp of human
nature and the ways of the world, to allow for the proper use of data,
information and knowledge. Wise people, therefore, cultivate

connections with other wise people or reliable knowledge experts,
because this is the most effective way to leverage and benefit from vast
stores of knowledge in this “information age.”

ASSIGNMENTS
1. What is the difference in terms of information presented in this text
and the previous one?

2. What does the term “data” mean?
3. Explain the following statement: “Data may be useful or not
depending on the context”.

4. Compare knowledge and wisdom.
5. Why is wisdom precious and worth paying for?