Why Your Next Hire Should be a Philosopher
In the Ancient Greek city of Miletus, there lived a philosopher named Thales. It is said that he was asked by the people why, if he was so wise, he was also poor. Surely if he were truly wise, they said, he would be a wealthy man. He may have knowledge of science and philosophy, they said, but he seemed to have no skill for using them in the real world. Thales sought to prove these critics wrong. Using his knowledge of meteorology, economics, psychology, and his sharp, analytical mind, Thales devised a plan.
Thales drew together all of his knowledge and understanding and deduced that this particular year would have a bumper crop of olives. Whilst it was still winter, and the harvest far off, Thales sold all that he had and used the money to pay deposits on all of the olive presses in Miletus and even the surrounding towns. When the summer came and the olives ripened there was a sudden demand for the presses which Thales then hired out at whatever price he wanted. Aristotle tells us:
Such is the story of how Thales gave proof of his cleverness.
- Aristotle, Politics
Spotting patterns, seeing trends, combining, connecting, and relating knowledge, and sharp analysis all helped Thales show his detractors that a philosopher’s mind can be just as valuable in the world of business as in the world of ideas.
The landscape of business and technology feels a little like the agricultural picture of ancient Miletus. Everyone wants to predict that super-sized crop of olives and be the ones with the barn full of presses come summer. Just as Thales showed the people of Miletus that a philosopher could be a powerful business asset 2,600 years ago, the same holds true today. With global interconnectedness, increasingly complex business and finance systems, and the advent of paradigm-shifting technologies such as AI, machine learning, and rapid manufacturing, the skills of philosophers have never been so valuable to businesses and start-ups.
Asking the tough questions
In conference suites and boardrooms around the world, experts come together to figure out problems and create solutions. Seasoned professionals from engineering, project management, product design, sales, and finance all hash out their thinking over post-it notes and whiteboards. With so much expertise in one place, it might be odd to see that all too often these groups stall or struggle to make forward progress. Their knowledge and understanding can often be the roadblock. The enormous value of a philosopher can be to ask the questions that no one else is asking. Often these are tough questions, questions that might be uncomfortable or difficult, questions that might be challenging to answer. Sometimes they are even questions people haven’t even thought to ask, but are essential to unlocking problems and resolving difficulties.
If it does not upset, it is not philosophy.
- Walter Kaufmann, The Faith of a Heretic
Asking stupid questions
These valuable questions can also be simple questions, even “stupid” questions. Sometimes we need someone to just ask why? I’ve often been in the room with subject matter experts and highly-experienced professionals who have needed, more than anything else, someone to ask them why they’re doing what they’re doing and why they’re doing it the way they’re doing it. Someone to play dumb. Socrates was notorious for exactly this approach - playing the fool in order to expose wooly thinking. The experts in the room might struggle to ask these questions themselves, either because they’re so deep into the subject matter that they can’t see the forest for the trees, or because the question might seem too simple or too stupid - our sense of social standing can often cloud our thinking.
A philosopher can be a professional fool, just as the medieval fool could say things to the king that no one else could, so can the philosopher.
It’s not just that the philosopher can ask these sorts of questions, but that a philosopher has the training to see when the questions really need asking. They have developed a sense of where thinking is muddled, gaps in knowledge might be hiding, or assumptions might be made and they can use their questioning to open the dialogue up and, in the words of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein:
Show the fly the way out of the fly bottle.
- Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations
Navigating the moral maze
With ground-shifting developments in machine learning, artificial intelligence, rapid prototyping and construction, block hain technologies and more comes a range of ethical, moral, and social questions. From AI and automation to data privacy and algorithmic bias, these ethical considerations cannot be overlooked. With calls to regulate AI coming from experts aand governments and major questions being raised over automation, the future of employment, and technology-driven inequality, it’s clear that there is a huge vacuum where our ethical considerations of new technologies should be. No one is better equipped to navigate these complex ethical landscapes than the philosopher.
Machine intelligence is the last invention that humanity will ever need to make.
- Nick Bostrom, Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, and Strategies
Combining both an understanding of ethical and moral philosophy, and the skill set required to navigate complex, ambiguous, and structurally opaque problems, philosophers possess a unique toolset for engaging with these profound challenges. They deeply understand ethical theories, principles, and frameworks, enabling them to weigh the potential consequences of technological advancements. By incorporating philosophical perspectives into the development process, startups can ensure that their products and services align with ethical and societal norms, ultimately building trust with customers and stakeholders. Philosophers can also help guide boards of directors, investment firms, and executives in better understanding the ethical dimensions of the modern tech world.
Thinking professionals
Philosophers are, when it comes down to it, professional thinkers. That may sound abstract, and it may even sound a little absurd, but we shouldn’t overlook the value that a professional can bring to a problem. A good number of the skilled professionals that any company or startup will have on the pay role will be great thinkers - that’s a product of the work they do, whether they are designers, engineers, or recruiters, but that won’t be their specialism - they’ll have something else that is at the heart of their work. But a philosopher is a pro-thinker. Clarity, precision, and insight are all hallmarks of sharp, robust thinking and they’re tough to achieve but, just like a professional in any other field, that’s exactly what the philosopher is trained for.
Learning philosophy is learning a particular kind of intuitive understanding.
- Iris Murdoch, Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals
Cutting through the obfuscation, seeing how things are simpler, or more complex than we might think, forging unseen connections, cutting things down to the essentials. All of these can be transformative for a business or a startup where efficiency, impact, and performance are crucial.
Philosophers also have another advantage - they’re not subject matter experts, they’re thinking experts. This means that their expertise is a set of skills, not a body of knowledge. As a result, philosophers are hugely adaptable. The same critical, insightful, and challenging thinking can be brought to bear on pretty much any field, context, or domain. Whether it’s an education technology startup, a green services business, or a VC looking to make new investments, a philosopher’s value holds. The inclusion of diverse forms of thinking, the engagement with challenging, provoking questions, and a way to anchor complex discussions all help a business to retain focus, clarity, and direction - this is why the philosopher’s role in this is not as a leader, or a teacher, or an expert, but as a kind of guide or facilitator.
How to bring a philosopher on board
Philosophers can occupy a wide range of roles, positions, and placements in businesses and startups and their flexibility is their great strength in this regard. Having a philosopher on the C-Level team means that those difficult, revelatory, and transformative questions will get asked, that clarity, precision, and insight will be brought to bear on decisions and processes, and moral and ethical concerns can be tackled with confidence. A philosopher can also function as an incredibly valuable consultant offering their skills and services where and when needed. Hiring candidates for other roles that also have a philosophy background can be of real benefit, too. Engineers, designers, and managers with some philosophical background can add all of their acumen as thinkers to the role and bring some philosophical scrutiny to bear.
Every day we see that the world and our place within it are becoming increasingly complex. We are confronted with profoundly challenging new technologies. We have to face global climate change, health crises, ageing populations, the attack on the democratic process, and many more global issues. To make meaningful advances on any of these we will need deep, careful, and skilful thinking and business, startups, NGOs and governments should give significant consideration to the effectiveness and impact a philosopher can have. If you’re considering bringing a philosopher on board, I would offer the following advice:
Seek out or encourage individuals with backgrounds in philosophy when recruiting.
Bring in a philosopher on a consultancy basis - for specific projects or deliverables, or to engage with the team and company more generally.
Think of a philosopher as helping you uncover what you don’t know you don’t know - it might be hard to see in advance what value that will uncover, but that’s precisely the point.
Consider a philosophical thinking workshop or training programme as part of your Learning and Development offering.
If you are interested in engaging the services of a philosopher, whether on a freelance or consultancy basis or a more permanent basis, then I do happen to know one who would be happy to talk.
Physics and philosophy are at most a few thousand years old, but probably have lives of thousands of millions of years stretching away in front of them. They are only just beginning to get underway.
- James Jeans, Physics and Philosophy