The Business Of Thinking Big – Why Managers Should Study Philosophy

“Studying philosophy taught me two things. I learned how to write really clearly. I learned how to follow an argument all the way down, which is invaluable in running meetings.” Stewart Butterfield, CEO and Co-founder of Slack

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What is a leader? If David Attenborough and his camera crew were to go stalking through Manhattan or the Silicon Valley for their next nature documentary, how would they identify the CEOs? Perhaps by their plumage – the flash of diamond-studded cufflinks and sharp suits on Wall Street, or the tell-tale black turtleneck, jeans and sneakers of Palo Alto. But alas, it’s not so simple.

Leaders present themselves in myriad ways and are not nearly as uniform in their appearances as, say, an alpha silverback gorilla. This is because their leadership stems not from natural physical advantages, but from a willingness to embrace new ideas and learning opportunities. What determines a leader is at heart a philosophical – not a physiological – question.

This may explain why a number of chief executives majored in philosophy.

Meet the executives who majored in philosophy

Billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros is a great example. A philosophy major at the London School of Economics in the 1950s, Soros credits some of his financial success to understanding how concepts like reflexivity – being able to examine your own feelings, reactions and motivations, and how these influence what you do or thinik in a situation – apply to economics.

“I have developed a conceptual framework which has helped me both to make money as a hedge fund manager and to spend money as a policy-oriented philanthropist. But the framework itself is not about money, it is about the relationship between thinking and reality,” Soros wrote in the Financial Times.

He stands in good company. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who many consider among the most ruthless individuals on Wall Street, graduated with an A.B. in philosophy from Princeton with a thesis on “The Problem of Formulating an Adequate Explication of the Empiricist Criterion of Meaning”.

Stewart Butterfield, CEO and Co-founder of Slack, has both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in philosophy, focusing on the philosophy of the mind. In his own words , “Studying philosophy taught me two things. I learned how to write really clearly. I learned how to follow an argument all the way down, which is invaluable in running meetings.”

Butterfield applied these skills in building a simple-to-use knowledge-management platform which is estimated to attract over 47 million daily users by 2025.

Similarly, Eva Chen channelled her background as a philosophy student at National Chengchi University in Taiwan into her role as CEO and Co-founder of Trend Micro, a global market leader in the field of cybersecurity software. Her lack of formal training as a software engineer allows her to bring a fresh perspective to the company.

“I am not that kind of CEO, who puts up a poker face and pretends to know everything. I keep asking why … Maybe it’s because I am a girl or I am not a hard-core electronic engineer; I am just never afraid of raising stupid questions,” she reflects.

According to chief development officer Oscar Chang, this might be one of her greatest strengths as a leader: “She has the gift of seeing beyond what engineers are blind to.”

Management is like a rollercoaster

It’s well attested that studying the humanities provides leaders with vital practical skills such as strong communication, critical thinking, and cultural awareness. But for Santiago Iñiguez, President of IE University in Spain, the connection between management and philosophy runs deeper still.

“I always believe that in management, which is a very pragmatic-oriented practice, there is philosophy in action behind every relevant management decision, behind any strategy to lead companies, behind the values and principles that guide the behaviour of managers,” he says.

“The important thing is that managers reflect and try to figure out what those principles and values are that guide their behaviour because this allows them to make much better decisions.”

Iñiguez draws on the teachings of philosophers throughout history, from Aristotle and Socrates in Ancient Greece to Ayn Rand and 17th century Spanish cleric Baltasar Gracián, all of whom he believes still offer enrichment to today’s business leaders. Yet his voice is unmistakeably his own, combining the wisdom of generations past with a sense of relevancy lifted from the well of his own experiences.

“Renew your brilliance. Excellence grows old and so does fame,” said Gracián, to which Iñiguez expands, “Management is like a rollercoaster, so you cannot rest on your laurels – you have to perform well every day. You have to show that you are valid, committed, and can be the best.”

Indeed, the idea of ‘renewing your brilliance’ seems apt to IE University, an institution which was created through the expansion and diversification of IE Business School, but which now hosts four other schools, covering law, architecture and design, politics and global affairs, and science and technology. A new school focusing on humanities was announced last year.

“When I joined almost 33 years ago, the expansion and diversification at IE Business School was a fascinating experience. I was lucky enough to take part in the launch and creation of the first accreditation system for business schools in Europe, Equis, and then the creation of IE University 15 years ago,” Iñiguez explains.

“I learned the importance of working in a team. I’ve been lucky because I’ve worked on the shoulders of giants.”

The pursuit of happiness at work

In his latest book, Philosophy Inc.: Applying Wisdom to Everyday Management, Iñiguez credits Aristotle with getting it right when he said that “happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.”

However, most people will spend much of their lives at work. The Independent reports that the average Briton will put in the equivalent of 3,507 days at work, including 204 days of overtime, during their lifetime. The typical employee will experience six office romances, 812 workplace arguments, and will brew 7,967 cups of tea or coffee for their colleagues.

So, is it still possible to pursue happiness on your way to the coffee machine? In Iñiguez’s view, it is.

“We should probably try to make our workplace the best possible place where we can actually engage with other people, where we can have fun, share times for humour and, of course, meet our colleagues and learn more about them because we are social animals,” he says.

“We need to know our colleagues in depth and that’s why, if we have to find happiness at work, it’s not just a question of achieving professional goals or getting a good compensation or being recognized by your colleagues; it’s also about having fun and enjoying the time you spend at work.”

Achieving this means people must act with integrity, which Iñiguez defines as a form of authenticity. It involves being consistent with your beliefs, paying respect to colleagues, knowing their concerns and how you can help them both professionally and personally.

“It’s not just fulfilling; it results in success and effective management. I believe that good managers are good professors because they teach their junior colleagues how to perform better,” he says.

Avoid the charisma trap

Socrates is often credited as the father of Western philosophy. Ironically, one of his best known maxims is, “I only know that I know nothing.”

It speaks to the value of humility, especially for those in leadership positions, and for the IE University President it is integral to being able to find joy in the workplace. When pride enters the scene, it is usually flanked by insecurity and blame, neither of which contributes to pleasant work environments.

Iñiguez warns against falling into the charisma trap of hiring based purely on a candidate’s force of personality.

“Normally, charismatic leaders are selfish. They are arrogant and don’t listen to others. They talk quickly. They are not the sort of reflective leaders that many corporations need,” he argues. “This is why I recommend that people do not make charisma the main characteristic when picking candidates.”

In Philosophy Inc., Santiago Iñiguez outlines several red flags that indicate a charismatic candidate is not right for the job, including the discrediting of others, a history of short stays in various positions, and flattery. He also offers several positive traits to look out for, such as willingness to offer sincere praise and external references from people who know the candidate well attest to their management skills.

Yet how should this be communicated in executive education, where participants have impressive résumés and a wealth of experience under their belts?

Training your brain

Iñiguez focuses on the potential for future growth. No matter how knowledgeable you are, there is always room to develop, to tweak, to reconsider.

“You have to be open to many different sources of learning. Unless you keep an open mind, you are not going to achieve happiness and you are not going to achieve success in your profession. True managers are humble and keep learning throughout their careers,” he says.

This open-mindedness is the crux of why philosophy is relevant to business leaders. There is a thought process behind every decision and every interaction with peers or employees. The question is, how well do you understand that thought process? How disciplined is your mind?

“As a human being, you have no choice about the fact that you need a philosophy,” said American writer Ayn Rand, addressing West Point graduates in 1974. “Your only choice is about whether you define your philosophy by a conscious, rational, disciplined process of thought and scrupulously logical deliberation – or let your subconscious accumulate a junk heap of unwarranted conclusions.”

The brain is a muscle which must be exercised if it is to grapple with powerful ideas. For a business leader, this struggle is inescapable. As Iñiguez illustrates, “management is philosophy in action.” The more you understand how people think, the easier it becomes to digest arguments, and the swifter you are able to act in situations that require a decisive response.

So, what is a leader? They are the practical philosophers, the disciplined dreamers, because every business starts as a dream. What was Apple before Steve Jobs and his co-founders pooled their ideas in the mid-1970s? It was nothing more than the name of a fruit, that famously fell on Newton’s head.

By Matt Symonds, Contributor