The wisdom project protocol: reasoning for wisdom in complex real-world enactive problem solving

We report findings from a case study based on The Wisdom Project (TWP), a protocol designed to enhance reasoning and decision-making in complex real-world problem solving. Our case study is based on a seven-week workshop organized as online lessons focused on the thinking dispositions that support the development of skills associated with a particular meta-heuristic, wise reasoning. Lessons are two-hours long group video sessions where participants are introduced to the curriculum and engage in a set of evidence-based practices that promote embodied reframing. Participants select a project that provides the vehicle for embodied action and development. The projects, individually chosen by participants with the facilitator’s guidance, are dynamic personal or professional challenges. In this paper, the development of wise reasoning through TWP protocol is evaluated through open-ended interviews conducted at four intervals—before, during, immediately after, and six months after the program. Findings show that interviewees report progress in their chosen projects while also improving in the wise reasoning skillset. We argue that the positive outcomes stem from the embodied reframing achieved through enactive distancing, the recursive strategy of intentionally stepping back from immediate perceptions, emotions, and thoughts, to reason from an emotional state of aspiration. We discuss how these new concepts align with similar concepts from psychology, philosophy, economics, management, and contemporary wisdom research.