I was going to go in-depth on some articles I’ve been reading about the person I mentioned in my last post but I’ve been overwhelmed with some amazing insights the last couple of days that I’ve had conversing with Claude.ai. So rather than go in-depth on this person, here’s just a quick summary of him, Chip Conley.
Below is a bio that ChatGPT created for Chip that I thought was fairly accurate based upon what I’ve read about him.
Yes, I’m familiar with Chip Conley and his work, particularly his ideas around “wisdom work” as the next evolution beyond knowledge work. Chip Conley is a hospitality entrepreneur, author, and founder of the Modern Elder Academy (MEA). He has been influential in redefining aging, mentoring, and intergenerational collaboration, especially through his concept of the “Modern Elder.”
In his framework, Conley argues that while knowledge work has been the dominant paradigm in the workplace for the past few decades, the future will increasingly require “wisdom workers”—individuals who can combine knowledge with life experience, emotional intelligence, and the ability to see the bigger picture. This type of work is less about technical expertise and more about applying judgment, empathy, and the insights gained from lived experience to complex, often ambiguous, challenges.
Conley’s work is particularly relevant in the context of an aging workforce and the increasing recognition that experience and wisdom are valuable assets in navigating the complexities of modern life and work. He advocates for the integration of wisdom from older generations with the innovation and energy of younger generations, creating more holistic and effective work environments.
Conversations with ChatGPT
And here are some of the articles I’ve read about him that made me realize that he’s able to communicate really complex things but in a way that seem to make sense to the average person and without having to use abstract concepts and names that might confuse the person.
Why “Wisdom Work” is the New “Knowledge Work”
My Wisdom Principles & Practices
Cultivating Wisdom from Chip Conley’s Modern Elder Academy
7 Ways to Start Transforming from a “Knowledge” to “Wisdom” Worker (by Liz Guthridge)
Wisdom Work: Why the Modern Elder is Relevant
Midlife & Beyond: Surfing The Liminal With Chip Conley
For example, I often talk about vertical development but it’s a confusing concept for a person to grasp because its scope is so huge. But that’s also why I find it provides such an expansive, bigger picture of life and shows how how everything is interconnected. But Chip, without probably even knowing about vertical development, eases a person into understanding it by talking about a how a person encounters a mid-life crisis that deals with change and how wisdom can arise from it. So two things that the average person has probably heard about.
Now what’s amazing is that when you align what he’s talking about beside vertical development, it aligns quite nicely. That’s because the growth and development in the initial stages of development are focused on knowledge, whereas wisdom is the focus in the latter stages of growth and development. Even more so, one’s mid-life can be seen as a process of individuation towards a future, desired self-actualization of one’s self, whereby the individual is effective questioning their current assumption and beliefs (i.e. path expected by society) that has got them to where they are but they have realized it’s not enough to get them to where they want to go (i.e. desire to forge their own path).
BTW what I also find fascinating about Chip’s work, and how it aligns to my own life and the lives of others I’ve interacted with over the last decade (since Google+), is that he recognizes that there are a ton of older people out there who have an amazing amount of wisdom that can be shared with younger generations but this wisdom as a resource is not being tapped into. To really tap into the wisdom of these people though, they themselves need to recognize that knowledge itself isn’t enough and start seeing their own untapped wisdom within themselves, just as I’ve been struggling to do with myself. (BTW this is something that I began understanding when I read Carol Sanford’s book Indirect Work some years back.)