Why LGNA?
We created the LGNA to help North American businesses thrive, with special emphasis on the success of small and midsize enterprises. The LGNA provides a venue for gifted science, technology, and business professionals, our Guild Members, to engage with you and foster continuous learning and growth. Our Guild Members are recognized masters of their craft who have honed their considerable skills and knowledge over a lifetime. Each member of this network of senior professionals is dedicated to sharing what they have learned in life – their wisdom, with you and your team members.
We're all on this journey to wisdom together. Our job as the management of the LGNA is to make the wisdom of the Knowledge Collective available to you.
You might ask; how does the LGNA define wisdom? How can that be important to me and my business?
Dr. Gordon Livingston, a renowned author and psychiatrist, wrote:
"The highest rung on the ladder of cognition, above and beyond both information and knowledge, is wisdom." When I wore a younger man's clothes, I sincerely hoped that wisdom was an inevitable product of age, experience, and hard work. Unfortunately, the behavior of some of my fellow Boomers and others proves it is not. Simply putting in the years doesn't guarantee wisdom. This admirable trait must be earned. And attaining wisdom isn't a final destination – as expected, it's an ongoing journey that involves a willingness to learn, adapt, and challenge your assumptions. The French philosopher Montaigne wrote, “We can be knowledgeable with other men’s knowledge, but we can’t be wise with other men’s wisdom.” There you have it.
Facts and data are ubiquitous and relatively easy to obtain. The reality is that we are drowning in data, as most would agree. The true value of data lies in how you use it. How you interpret its impact on you and your business is the crucial step. And the most difficult to do confidently. Turning data into actionable insights and making confident decisions with clarity is a complex skill.
I should know. Throughout my career as a small business owner, I never tried to be the smartest person in the room. Mainly because I wasn't. I always ask for help. Over the years, my partners, board members, vendors, and customers all had something to teach me. And I listened, most of the time. Today, I am very fortunate to work daily with seriously intelligent, experienced, and thoughtful people. Every time I discuss issues with my esteemed colleagues in the LGNA, I realize how much I have to learn. They each bring a unique perspective, and I invariably walk away from our conversations feeling a bit wiser. Unfortunately, wisdom can become the 'ever-receding bonanza' on the horizon for each of us if we don't make a conscious effort to pursue it.
David Brooks defined wisdom well in his book 'The Road to Character'; "It's the moral quality of knowing what you don't know and figuring out a way to handle your ignorance, uncertainty, and limitations." Another definition, reflecting an epiphany of self-awareness and humility, is one of my favorites from Dicken's character Ebenezer Scrooge; "I don't know anything. I never did know anything. But now I know I don't know anything."
The hallmark of wisdom is to have distilled from personal experience and expertise – honed through years of significant effort and contribution – some notion of how the world works that can help inform others.
Our Guild members embody this wisdom, offering not just knowledge, but the insightful application of that knowledge to propel your business forward. The LGNA Knowledge Collective™ is a network of innovators, technology developers, tech academicians, researchers, and other experts in technology ecosystems. In addition, the Guild membership includes high-caliber business professionals; seasoned industry experts and leading executives available to work alongside you and your Teams.
Our success at the LGNA hinges on creating valuable, long-term relationships with our Clients. We go beyond simply providing information, knowledge, or advice. In fact, we're not in the business of giving 'advice'. We won't tell you what to do; you probably already know what to do – you might just need models, processes, and examples of how those that have gone before dealt with similar issues. We will tell our stories, with guidance, and leave the 'wisdom' in that relationship for you to divine.
We don't have all the answers. But we do have most of the questions – and a solid process to help guide our collective adventure to success. Contact us today – we have lots of stories to share
We're all on this journey to wisdom together. Our job as the management of the LGNA is to make the wisdom of the Knowledge Collective available to you.
You might ask; how does the LGNA define wisdom? How can that be important to me and my business?
Dr. Gordon Livingston, a renowned author and psychiatrist, wrote:
"The highest rung on the ladder of cognition, above and beyond both information and knowledge, is wisdom." When I wore a younger man's clothes, I sincerely hoped that wisdom was an inevitable product of age, experience, and hard work. Unfortunately, the behavior of some of my fellow Boomers and others proves it is not. Simply putting in the years doesn't guarantee wisdom. This admirable trait must be earned. And attaining wisdom isn't a final destination – as expected, it's an ongoing journey that involves a willingness to learn, adapt, and challenge your assumptions. The French philosopher Montaigne wrote, “We can be knowledgeable with other men’s knowledge, but we can’t be wise with other men’s wisdom.” There you have it.
Facts and data are ubiquitous and relatively easy to obtain. The reality is that we are drowning in data, as most would agree. The true value of data lies in how you use it. How you interpret its impact on you and your business is the crucial step. And the most difficult to do confidently. Turning data into actionable insights and making confident decisions with clarity is a complex skill.
I should know. Throughout my career as a small business owner, I never tried to be the smartest person in the room. Mainly because I wasn't. I always ask for help. Over the years, my partners, board members, vendors, and customers all had something to teach me. And I listened, most of the time. Today, I am very fortunate to work daily with seriously intelligent, experienced, and thoughtful people. Every time I discuss issues with my esteemed colleagues in the LGNA, I realize how much I have to learn. They each bring a unique perspective, and I invariably walk away from our conversations feeling a bit wiser. Unfortunately, wisdom can become the 'ever-receding bonanza' on the horizon for each of us if we don't make a conscious effort to pursue it.
David Brooks defined wisdom well in his book 'The Road to Character'; "It's the moral quality of knowing what you don't know and figuring out a way to handle your ignorance, uncertainty, and limitations." Another definition, reflecting an epiphany of self-awareness and humility, is one of my favorites from Dicken's character Ebenezer Scrooge; "I don't know anything. I never did know anything. But now I know I don't know anything."
The hallmark of wisdom is to have distilled from personal experience and expertise – honed through years of significant effort and contribution – some notion of how the world works that can help inform others.
Our Guild members embody this wisdom, offering not just knowledge, but the insightful application of that knowledge to propel your business forward. The LGNA Knowledge Collective™ is a network of innovators, technology developers, tech academicians, researchers, and other experts in technology ecosystems. In addition, the Guild membership includes high-caliber business professionals; seasoned industry experts and leading executives available to work alongside you and your Teams.
Our success at the LGNA hinges on creating valuable, long-term relationships with our Clients. We go beyond simply providing information, knowledge, or advice. In fact, we're not in the business of giving 'advice'. We won't tell you what to do; you probably already know what to do – you might just need models, processes, and examples of how those that have gone before dealt with similar issues. We will tell our stories, with guidance, and leave the 'wisdom' in that relationship for you to divine.
We don't have all the answers. But we do have most of the questions – and a solid process to help guide our collective adventure to success. Contact us today – we have lots of stories to share
Robert PriceLGNA President
bobp@lucidityguild.com