At the most recent TED conference, Dr. Barry Schwartz focuses on one of the most important, yet largely overlooked human elements in the information age, that of wisdom.

* A wise person knows how and when to make “the exception to every rule”.
* A wise person knows how to improvise. Real world problems are often ambiguous and ill defined and the context is always changing.
* A wise person is like a jazz musician using the notes on the page but dancing around them inventing combinations that are appropriate for the situations and the people at hand.
* A wise person knows how to use these moral skills in the service of the right aims. To serve other people, not manipulate other people.
* A Wise person is made not born. Wisdom depends on experience, and not just any experience. You need the time to get to know the people you are serving. You need permission to be allowed to improvise; to try new things; occasionally to fail, and to learn from your failures. And you need to be mentored by wise teachers.

People, not technologies, are at the heart of every problem we struggle with; and they are at the heart of every solution we long to find.

The notion of “common sense”, for example, only becomes “common” when we learn how to share experiences, the foundation of making wise choices, with other people.

As I’ve argued in the past, the Information Age is creating a world where titles, job descriptions, and roles are becoming far less important than the ability to ensure all people feel like what they are doing is of value and that they themselves feel valued in both their personal and professional lives.