Introducing Phronesis Advisory
Leadership Advisory and Consulting for the Common Good
What We Do
Phronesis Advisory is the leadership advisory and consulting arm of Seeking Wisdom, an nonprofit, nonpartisan, interfaith research institute devoted to engaging fundamental questions of meaning and value across humanity’s spiritual and civilizational traditions and to charting the next steps in the human civilizational project. As such we work with organizations which share our dedication to the Common Good across a broad ideological spectrum to help them find their way, i.e. to discern where they stand on the big picture questions, to think clearly about who their actual and potential constituents are and where their comparative advantage lies, and then to define a value proposition and a strategy for cultivating the resources —the organized money, people, and mana — they need in order to realize their mission.
Our Approach
The word phronesis, often translated as practical wisdom, means excellence in knowing the means to the ends of human life. As the consulting arm of Seeking Wisdom we provide the practical complement to the theoretical work to which Seeking Wisdom is dedicated. At a time when most consulting is driven by data and quantitative analysis we offer a stark alternative: meaning and value centered, and deeply rooted in the traditions of the humanities and the humanistic social sciences and of public deliberation in the context of an open and pluralistic civil society. All of our work begins with in-depth, intentional conversations about the ends of human life and the means to those ends. Looking at data can be useful, to be sure. It can help us understand something about the terrain on which an organization operates, and assist us in framing our questions. But a real understanding of the latent potential of an organization, its comparative advantages and natural constituencies, is always the product on in-depth conversations. And realizing that potential takes place through continuing conversations, which provides the context for identifying issues, deliberating together, and arriving at tentative ways forward.
In general our work with an organization involves the following steps:
looking at data regarding both the organization and the social context in which it operates
doing a series of individual relational meetings in order to understand the interests, networks, and capacities of both the members of the organization and its key constituents, and
situating the resulting information in the context of a broader structural analysis of the institutional context in which the organization is embded.
This then allows us to guide you in:
defining a value proposition which positions your organization in relationship to adversaries and competitors, partners and potential partners,
developing functional plans for organizing the resources you need in order to be effective: people, money, and mana or cultural capital.