Revitalizing formative leadership with practical wisdom
About the Practical Wisdom Project
The Practical Wisdom Project is a signature initiative of the Abigail Adams Institute equipping leaders with the habits and tools they need to cultivate character, wisdom, and human flourishing.
Practical wisdom, or phronesis – what Aristotle called “good sense” – is the disposition to perceive and deliberate well in context, to aim at what matters most and adjudicate competing goods, so we can take the right actions, at the right time, for the right reasons, and help others to do the same.
We believe that every leader has the capacity to grow in practical wisdom, and that this distinctively human wisdom is essential for leaders who take people seriously as persons. Through our Research Practice Partnership, we stay simultaneously engaged with both philosophical understandings of phronesis and the real practice of it, all while contributing to a greater body of research on flourishing.
To learn more, see Journal of Education: “The Practical Wisdom Framework: A Compass for School Leaders” (Bohlin 2022).
Our Flagship Program
Our flagship program is the Wisdom at Work: Revitalizing School Leadership, an executive education program for school leaders supported by the John Templeton Foundation.
Director
Dr. Karen E. Bohlin is Director of the Practical Wisdom Project at AAI, Research Affiliate at Harvard's Human Flourishing Program, and Principal of the Practical Wisdom Group, LLC. With more than two decades of leadership and teaching in both secondary and higher education, Dr. Bohlin's work explores the intersection of practical wisdom and leadership for flourishing. She teaches Wisdom at Work: Revitalizing School Leadership, an online executive education program that equips leadership teams to shape institutions committed to individual and collective flourishing. Author of several books and articles on applied virtue ethics, practical wisdom and the “schooling of desire,” she is a sought-after speaker and leader of professional education workshops. Dr. Bohlin also serves as senior scholar at Boston University’s Center for Character & Social Responsibility, founder and director emerita of the LifeCompass Institute for Character & Leadership at Montrose School and advisory board member for the Kern Partners in Character and Educational Leadership (KPCEL).
Highlights: Engagement & Reach
Want to learn more?
Stay connected with our blog, “Practical Wisdom in Action”.
Additional Programs
Programs of the Practical Wisdom Project equip leaders with the habits and tools they need to cultivate character, wisdom, and human flourishing.
Other programs of the Practical Wisdom Project include:
Courageous Dialogue: Practical Wisdom for Navigating Difficult Conversations
Learning from Mistakes: Practical Wisdom for Mentors & Young Professionals
The Schooling of Desire: Practical Wisdom from Philosophy, Art & Film
Support
The Practical Wisdom Project is housed at the Abigail Adams Institute, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. To support the mission of the Practical Wisdom Project, donations may be made directly to the Abigail Adams Institute or via the button below.
Our new Wisdom at Work Fellowship is made possible through the support of Grant 63617 from the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in this project are those of the grantee and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.
