Received wisdom definition
Received wisdom in our view simply means the normative ‘folk wisdom’ that everyone has come to accept in society in general and—more specifically for our purposes—in an organization. In other words, it is the set of beliefs and standards (norms) that people have come to accept as true in a given organization. Received wisdom is an important aspect of organizational culture and—in many cases—is a primary vehicle (along with group-administered sanctions) for transmitting organizational culture. Unfortunately, received wisdom may not always be wise and it may not always be the truth, even if the general or critical masses of the organization believe it to be. This is certainly the case when one considers ‘groupthink’ and its implications for unethical decisions or acts in organizations over the years.