On Prudence

Over the last five years, we have learned that a significant portion of this blog’s readers are Millennials.  With that fact in mind, I thought that it might be useful for those of us who are not Millennials to occasionally read leadership reflections from members of this very misunderstood generation. 

“On Prudence” was written by Paul Lemley, University of Dubuque Undergrad in 2011 & MAC in 2014.  Paul is a startup founder and lives in Milwaukee, WI.  Additionally, Paul is the person who handles all technical aspects of this blog—he’s a Millennial, after all!

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On Prudence

Prudence gets a bad rap.

Immanuel Kant, recognized as a central figure in modern philosophy, put prudence on trial against morality, arguing that doing what is morally right supersedes any debate whether the means to a specific end, in the long term, are in fact, justified.

Robert Hariman, in his book Prudence: Classical Virtue, Postmodern Practice, explains that Kant is indifferent to prudence. So much so that he calls it a “nonmoral, hypothetical imperative, which merely advises us as to the technical means we might employ to achieve happiness.”

Never mind the negative connotations of timidity, slowness of thought or action, or simply a lack of gumption we might think of individuals described as prudent. Perhaps these are lasting results of Kant’s work. Perhaps not.

Yet prudential thought, or the ability to govern or discipline oneself through reason, seems to be missing in our lives today; this life of immediate gratification and information overload.

Certainly the expectations of others don’t help.

We’re told our opinion and feelings matter, employers expect us to always be “plugged in,” and friends get mad when we don’t respond immediately to a text or email.

It’s no wonder prudential thought may seem like a luxury!

What’s more, is that culture celebrates the extreme opposite of prudence. Also known as recklessness.

We love to see individuals that “take control of their own destiny” or “strike out on their own,” even after those same people quit after a few months, falling back into their old habits, only to announce another venture they’re launching the next month.

Even Caesar was thought to have been intrepid in his own life, declaring; “audentes fortuna iuvat”or “fortune favors the bold” as everyone loves to over use today.

Startup and entrepreneurial cultures might be the most egregious cheerleaders of this reckless attitude.    

Reid Hoffman, a co-founder of PayPal and LinkedIn, a venture capitalist, and startup savant, coined the heavily used quote; “An entrepreneur is someone who will jump off a cliff and assemble an airplane on the way down.”

Eric Ries, the author of The Lean Startup, introduced the common startup axiom, “Minimum Viable Product” as a way to show would be entrepreneurs how to build something quickly, iterate on your product, then scale and grow it. Scrapping unnecessary features to focus on only that which is necessary to gain traction.

You can imagine where prudence falls within this type of business building model.

I’ll be clear though. I am in no way arguing against these successful business leaders and their sage advice. I use their advice in my own work all the time!

The point I’d like to make though, is that these types of maxims and processes have a tendency to bleed into other facets of our lives, within which a prudent mental model would be of incredible service to our well-being.

Things like family, politics, education, our health and wellness. I, for one, don’t want that which is reckless anywhere near these important topics or activities.

This first takes an act of humility.

Say these next four words out loud.

I don’t know everything.

It might be a punch in the gut for some, but it should feel like a weight off your shoulders each time you acknowledge the fact.

If there is a specific lesson with which I’ve taken from observing the work of my mentors, it’s that great leaders are quick to acknowledge their lack of experience or knowledge. And without haste, bring in outside authority to assist in their decision making process.

Can you imagine a better time in history during which experts being included in a discussion is more important? Both sides of the political spectrum should be able to agree with that.

Let’s go back to this idea of a prudential mental model though.

Aristotle wrote about practical wisdom or Phronesis, which is one of the five faculties by which people can grasp the truth. He said that it is the ability to deliberate about what actions are beneficial and expedient in leading a life of virtue.

Prudence is also thought to be the “mother of all virtues,” or the cause, measure, and form of virtues.

To be virtuous or act upon the disciplines Dr. Bullock has written about in previous posts, requires prudence to decide which actions one must follow in achieving these disciplines.

In other words, it’s not just important to talk about virtues, it’s also important to discuss how to act upon such disciplines, and how we come up with those actions…

What follows is a mental model I have employed in my own work and life.

I’m sure there are more things to consider and I look forward to your comments, but these have guided me well since graduating from the University of Dubuque.

Memory & Experience

One of my favorite James Bond quotes comes from “Skyfall” when he meets Q in front of “The Fighting Temeraire,” a painting of a mighty war ship being towed away to a scrap yard. This theme of youth and vitality vs. age and experience is a way to foreshadow the demise of espionage in a modern world. A central theme in Bond’s hunt for Raoul Silva and his fight to stay relevant in Britain’s intelligence service.

Q’s youth vs. Bond’s age comes to a head when Q states;

“Age is no guarantee of efficiency.”

To which, Bond replies;

“And youth is no guarantee of innovation.”

I turn 30 next year, so perhaps I’m just at an age when I can clearly see my youthful naiveté balanced against an equal amount of experience from which I can draw.

Relying on memories and experiences are a fantastic way to consider not only action, but right action.

And don’t forget about historical precedent. There’s a reason why it’s so powerful within our legal system. Become a student of history. Read about the titans of your industry, practical philosophy, and world changing events.

Find out who faced similar challenges. Who was successful, and unsuccessful for that matter, in a similar venture? You don’t have to follow their path to the letter, but you also don’t have to reinvent the wheel!

First Principles

First principles are basic, self-evident assumptions that cannot be deduced by any other proposition or assumption.

They’re the basic truths, the realities of a situation, the core element of a success or failure.

The practice of boiling things down to first principles has received a boost of attention over the past decade. Due in part, ironically, to startup founders.

Elon Musk, one of the most prolific entrepreneurs of our time, states; “It’s important to reason from first principles, rather than analogy.”

We reason through analogy all the time. We do something because it’s like something else that was done, or it’s like what other people are doing. We slightly iterate on a theme or copy a business idea and simply change one small aspect.

Don’t get down on yourself though. This is a bit of a default for humanity because it’s easy to reason this way.

It also flies in the face of the first mental model of memory and experience.

Ask yourself what are you sure is true? What are the truths of this action, this circumstance, this law, this goal?

Then, reason up from that basic starting point.

Descartes systematically questioned everything he could possibly doubt, until he was left with what he saw as purely indubitable truths.

Emerson, in his essay on prudence, follows a similar theme. He states: “Prudence does not go behind nature, and ask whence it is. It takes the laws of the world, whereby man’s being is conditioned, as they are, and keeps these laws, that it may enjoy their proper good. It respects space and time, climate, want, sleep, the law of polarity, growth, and death.”

Take the time to search for these first principles. You will be rewarded with a clear path towards right action.

Cautious Foresight

There’s a reason CEO’s make the big bucks.

Sure, it’s easy to malign business leaders for their recklessness and often incompetence, but the good chief executives were recruited or groomed, often for this wholly learned trait.

The capacity to estimate whether particular actions can realize goals, while simultaneously mitigating risk.

Half psychic, half actuary.

Backed by board members, investors or stock holders, billions in assets and cash, and an army of a workforce, major CEO’s bet big, but they also bet wisely.

Now think of our public servants. Whether a county supervisor, state representative, United States Senator, or the President of the United States, it’s important that these leaders hone this skill to ensure the future of our republic.

In Plato’s Statesmen, he argues that prudence is chief among virtues. Any public measure ought to be judged by its probable long-run consequences, not merely by temporary advantage or popularity.

As for Caesar’s overused quote; “Fortune favors the bold,” what’s not commonly known is that Suetonius argued that Caesar was almost “timidly bold.” He planned heavily AND made huge bets.

Remember, all actions have consequences. It is our greatest leaders who have the moral fortitude to guide us towards right action, even to the detriment of his or her present state.

 

And before you shrug off prudence altogether, consider the words of Edward Whymper, from his book Scrambles Amongst the Alps:

“Climb if you will, but remember that courage and strength are nought without prudence, and that a momentary negligence may destroy the happiness of a lifetime. Do nothing in haste; look well to each step; and from the beginning think what may be the end.”