Talking Story

Starting new conversations in the workplace!

  • Rosa’s Books
  • ManagingWithAloha.com
  • RosaSay.com

What is Intellectual Honesty?

November 20, 2008 by Rosa Say

My answer is destined for a longer post to come, for now my wheels are turning about it anew! But meanwhile, I’d like to copy a comment I just wrote over at JJL about it for you who read Talking Story:

Do you have any thoughts on this before I write a new essay about it? When you first hear those words, what do you think about? Without any of my context, what would intellectual honesty mean to you?

Answer before you keep reading…

This was my JJL comment:


Greg and Ulla (and everyone) I clearly remember reading the words ‘intellectual honesty’ for the very first time in a list called “Qualities I Admire” that was put together by David Ogilvy, the advertising genius who founded Ogilvy & Mather, and at one point worked with Dr. George Gallup, creator of the Gallup Poll. (Joanna, I understand that David Ogilvy was born and raised in Scotland!)

The phrase was #2 in a list of 10 things, but I will give you both #1 and 2, for my reading them in this order (and having no other context ”“ he never defined it any further, at least not in something I can find) had a lasting impression on me just because I loved the phrase, and then was forced to attach my own mana‘o (beliefs and convictions) to it, and make it my own for MWA.

Here is the direct quote from his list:

“Qualities I Admire by David Ogilvy ~

1. I admire people who work hard, who bite the bullet. I dislike passengers who don’t pull their weight in the boat. It is more fun to be overworked than to be underworked. There is an economic factor built into hard work. The harder you work, the fewer employees we need, and the more profit we make. The more profit we make, the more money becomes available for all of us.

2. I admire people with first-class brains, because you cannot run a great advertising agency without brainy people. But brains are not enough unless they are combined with intellectual honesty.”

And out of all that, intellectual honesty was the only phrase he had in italics.
Just for a chuckle” this was #3: Remember that Mr. Ogilvy was born in 1911:

“3. I have an inviolable rule against employing nepots and spouses, because they breed politics. Whenever two of our people get married, one of them must depart —preferably the female, to look after her baby.”

For ‘intellectual honesty’ to be as sticky as it became with me, I am quite sure that I put the list aside after that first reading, to immediately write some morning pages on my own thoughts about it, without getting to #3 until much later!

~ Rosa

For complete context on this, read the posting it appears within, written by Greg Balanko-Dickson for our JJL Learning Joyful Giving theme this month:

Seven Lessons from The Empty Cup

The post is thought-provoking; about how we can mess up when we are running on empty, no matter how generous we might be feeling with others. I can’t imagine anyone who would not relate to Greg’s story, for resisting selfishness is taken to the extreme almost universally across cultures.

The Empty Cup is a Metaphor;

  1. Lesson 1: Monitor Unrealistic Expectations When Facing Adversity
  2. Lesson 2: Ask for Help Long Before You Think You Need It
  3. Lesson 3: Find Silence
  4. Lesson 4: Consciously Choosing My Principles, Beliefs, Morals, and Values Became a Positive Anchor
  5. Lesson 5: Not Caring for Myself, I Became an Empty Cup
  6. Lesson 6: Filling My Cup from a Context of Abundance
  7. Lesson 7: The Practice of Intellectual Honesty

Joyful_giving
Click the badge to read about our current JJ.Learning focus.

Filed Under: MWA Key 5: Language of Intention Tagged With: intellectual honesty, Joyful Jubilant Learning

Comments

  1. Joanna Young says

    November 21, 2008 at 12:19 am

    For me it would mean:
    1. Thinking for myself
    2. Being able to express myself in the plainest language I can
    3. Asking questions of myself and others
    4. Having the courage to say what I believe
    5. Acknowledging the validity of other people’s beliefs
    If I had to go for just two, it’d be the first two.
    Just one, the second – plain language. It forces you to be true, and to use your words, not someone elses.

  2. Dean Boyer says

    November 21, 2008 at 2:41 am

    The Chinese character for honesty pictures water branching off to form a tributary. This makes me think of honesty being connected and true to its source. Without the river, a stream would cease to flow; therefore, honesty flows from what is true. As a stream might pick up debris along its journey, the goal is being as pure as its source. An action (tributary) cannot be more pure than the heart, for example. Connection, truth and purity.

  3. Rosa Say says

    November 21, 2008 at 11:31 am

    Wow. Joanna and Dean, you both offer comments that spun me off into my morning pages this morning to think about them on a very personal level. Thank you.

Search Talking Story your way

RSS Current Articles at Managing with Aloha:

  • Do it—Experiment!
  • Hō‘imi to Curate Your Life’s Experience
  • Kaʻana i kāu aloha: Share your Aloha
  • Managing Basics: The Good Receiver
  • What do executives do, anyway? They do values.
  • Managing Basics: On Finishing Well
  • Wellness—the kind that actually works

Search Talking Story by Category

Talking Story Article Archives

  • July 2016 (1)
  • April 2012 (1)
  • March 2012 (6)
  • February 2012 (6)
  • January 2012 (10)
  • December 2011 (1)
  • November 2011 (4)
  • October 2011 (17)
  • September 2011 (8)
  • August 2011 (6)
  • July 2011 (2)
  • June 2011 (2)
  • May 2011 (4)
  • April 2011 (12)
  • March 2011 (16)
  • February 2011 (16)
  • January 2011 (23)
  • December 2010 (4)
  • November 2010 (1)
  • October 2010 (1)
  • September 2010 (4)
  • August 2010 (1)
  • July 2010 (4)
  • June 2010 (13)
  • May 2010 (17)
  • April 2010 (18)
  • March 2010 (13)
  • February 2010 (18)
  • January 2010 (16)
  • December 2009 (12)
  • November 2009 (15)
  • October 2009 (20)
  • September 2009 (20)
  • August 2009 (17)
  • July 2009 (16)
  • June 2009 (13)
  • May 2009 (3)
  • April 2009 (19)
  • March 2009 (18)
  • February 2009 (21)
  • January 2009 (26)
  • December 2008 (31)
  • November 2008 (19)
  • October 2008 (8)
  • September 2008 (11)
  • August 2008 (11)
  • July 2008 (10)
  • June 2008 (16)
  • May 2008 (1)
  • March 2008 (17)
  • February 2008 (24)
  • January 2008 (13)
  • December 2007 (10)
  • November 2007 (6)
  • July 2007 (27)
  • June 2007 (23)
  • May 2007 (13)
  • April 2007 (19)
  • March 2007 (17)
  • February 2007 (14)
  • January 2007 (15)
  • December 2006 (14)
  • November 2006 (16)
  • October 2006 (13)
  • September 2006 (29)
  • August 2006 (14)
  • July 2006 (19)
  • June 2006 (19)
  • May 2006 (12)
  • April 2006 (11)
  • March 2006 (14)
  • February 2006 (14)
  • January 2006 (7)
  • December 2005 (15)
  • November 2005 (27)
  • October 2005 (22)
  • September 2005 (38)
  • August 2005 (31)
  • July 2005 (34)
  • June 2005 (32)
  • May 2005 (27)
  • April 2005 (28)
  • March 2005 (36)
  • February 2005 (33)
  • January 2005 (35)
  • December 2004 (13)
  • November 2004 (24)
  • October 2004 (22)
  • September 2004 (28)
  • August 2004 (8)

Copyright © 2021 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in