“Sharpening expertise yields results.” This holds true in many workplaces. Yet simultaneously, problems increasingly arise that expertise alone cannot solve. For instance: decisions with no single correct answer, issues where interests collide, and ethical questions like “Is it right to do that?” What becomes essential in these situations is the perspective offered by the liberal arts—history, philosophy, literature, sociology, and the like.
Liberal arts provide the foundation for sound judgment when applying specialized knowledge in the field. Precisely because we are professionals, we may develop assumptions supported by extensive knowledge. Therefore, stepping back to reexamine matters from a different perspective enhances the quality of our decisions.
This article explores how learning liberal arts changes the professional practice and introduces methods for incorporating it into daily work.
What Are the Liberal Arts?
Regarding the liberal arts, the Industry-Academia Council on the Future of Hiring and University Education states the following:
“In the modern era, liberal arts education involves honing logical thinking and normative judgment through the study of academic fields spanning the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, thereby acquiring foundational skills for identifying and solving problems, as well as envisioning and designing social systems.”
In other words, the essence of liberal arts lies not only in deepening knowledge within specialized fields, but also in honing one’s “perspective” and “criteria for judgment” through a broad range of disciplines.
People tend to be constrained by their own experiences, the organizations they belong to, the conventions of their industry, and their past successes. The more specialized one’s profession, the stronger the tendency to assume “this approach is correct.” Liberal arts help us recognize these assumptions and update our thinking when necessary.
In practical work, we often choose learning based on whether it’s “immediately useful.” Yet, the more challenging the task, the more judgment that remains valuable even as circumstances change determines success. In an era of rapid change, the shelf life of knowledge itself is short. That’s precisely why the ability to handle knowledge becomes crucial. This is the core of liberal arts.
Why Liberal Arts Are Essential for Professionals
Specialists can make highly precise judgments in specific fields. On the other hand, precisely because they possess such high levels of expertise, they also face certain challenges.
1) Judging correctness solely within one’s specialized field
Conclusions reached by experts are rational and correct within their specialized field. However, that correctness does not necessarily equate to the optimal solution for the entire organization or society.
For example:
- A system may be efficient, but if it places an excessive operational burden on the field, it won’t work
- Even if numbers show improvement, customer distrust may increase
- Even if legally sound, it may invite social criticism
Such discrepancies occur because the higher the level of expertise, the easier it is to focus solely on “correctness within one’s own domain,” making friction with other perspectives harder to see.
The liberal arts perspective serves as a guide to re-examine the question: “How does this judgment appear in the broader context?”
2) Opportunities to question assumptions diminish
As experts gain experience, they become quicker at making judgments like “Under these conditions, this will happen” or “This approach usually works well.” While this is a significant strength, it also means they become less conscious of the assumptions underlying their judgments.
When environments or underlying conditions shift dramatically, past successes or gut instincts may no longer apply. Yet people often continue thinking within their familiar frameworks.
Liberal arts cultivate the ability to articulate and examine questions like “What assumptions are we basing this on?” and “Do those assumptions still hold today?” It’s not about putting the brakes on expertise, but rather providing a perspective to update judgment for resilience in changing environments.
3) Accountability is increasing
In modern times, judgments are no longer accepted solely because “the experts say so.” Across all fields—medicine, law, technology, management—it is required to explain the background and reasoning behind decisions in terms the other party can understand.
The audience for these explanations extends beyond patients and customers to include other departments within the company, management, and even society at large. What becomes crucial here is the ability to structure facts and communicate them effectively.
Liberal arts like philosophy and literature not only expand knowledge but also train us to engage in the back-and-forth between words and thought. The ability to explain specialized judgments in terms the other party can understand directly translates to the “quality of trust.”
What You Can Learn from Liberal Arts
Liberal arts are packed with wisdom for viewing things from multiple angles.
Here, we explore perspectives that support professional thinking, drawn from the representative fields of liberal arts: humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.
Humanities
The humanities are disciplines that explore what people think, how they assign meaning, and how they act through fields such as philosophy, history, and literature. For professionals, their value lies not in providing immediate answers, but in cultivating the ability to consider the context within which judgments are made and how they are perceived.
History cultivates the perspective to discern “similar structures” through past events. Whether it’s institutional reform, organizational management, or crisis response, human and societal reactions share commonalities across different eras. The ability to perceive situations as long-term patterns, without being distracted by trends or superficial differences, is directly applicable to modern DX and operational reforms.
Philosophy is the study of “framing questions correctly.” Conflicts and decision-making gridlock in the field often stem from focusing solely on “how to do it” without confirming “why we are doing it.” Philosophical thinking verbalizes premises like “what to protect and what to prioritize,” aligning the core of the discussion.
Literature trains us to adopt others’ perspectives. Humans are not driven solely by rationality; emotions, fears, and expectations influence judgment. By vicariously experiencing others’ inner worlds through stories, we hone the ability to communicate professional judgments in a way that truly resonates with others.
Social Sciences
Social sciences are disciplines that examine the structure of society—how people and organizations interact—through fields such as economics, politics, and sociology. They provide a perspective for considering how decision-making impacts the environment in which professionals operate.
For instance, even the most well-designed systems cannot guarantee people will act as intended. Incentives like evaluation systems, compensation, authority, and customs ultimately shape actual behavior. Social science operates on the premise that “people are not motivated solely by good intentions,” forming the foundation for designing systems that function effectively in reality.
Furthermore, even decisions that comply with laws and rules can provoke resistance if they lack social legitimacy. Social science offers clues to understand why conflicts arise and where conflicts of interest lie, framing them as structural phenomena.
This perspective is indispensable for making specialized knowledge function within society—whether in organizational management, policy response, or stakeholder coordination.
Natural Sciences
Natural sciences are disciplines that seek to understand natural phenomena and laws through observation and verification using mathematics, physics, biology, and other fields. For professionals, what matters most is not individual pieces of knowledge themselves, but rather the patterns of thinking—how to think and how to verify.
The foundation of natural science lies in the mindset of formulating hypotheses based on uncertainty, verifying them, and updating judgments based on results. Rather than rushing to conclusions from limited data, precision is enhanced through repeated trial and verification. This approach is common to many practical fields, including medicine, technology development, quality control, and operational improvement.
Furthermore, natural science trains us to distinguish causal relationships from mere correlations. Rather than jumping to conclusions based on temporary numerical changes or isolated success stories, persistently asking “What is the true cause?” and “Is it reproducible?” enhances the accuracy of judgment. The higher the uncertainty, the more avoiding definitive statements and conducting repeated verification solidly underpins a professional’s judgment.
Liberal Arts Thinking for Practical Use
Liberal arts knowledge alone won’t yield results. Having a framework to apply it directly translates to practical work. Here, we introduce three questions you can use immediately in meetings, proposals, and decision-making.
1) Definition Clarification: “What exactly does that mean?”
In meetings and discussions, terms like “success,” “quality,” “safety,” “efficiency,” “DX,” and “customer satisfaction” are often used as if they were self-evident. Yet, the more commonplace these words seem, the more their actual meaning varies from person to person.
For example, even when saying “success,” interpretations differ:
- Is it sales? Or profit?
- Is it short-term results? Or long-term relationship building?
- Is it numerical figures or evaluations?
Interpretations vary widely.
Proceeding with discussions without confirming definitions can lead to situations where apparent disagreements are actually just a mismatch in underlying assumptions. By first articulating “What do you mean by that term?” and “What exactly does it encompass?”, you establish a solid foundation for discussion, making progress easier.
This is a fundamental principle of philosophical thinking: “Before thinking, align your words.” It’s a simple yet highly effective question.
2）Historical Perspective: “Have Similar Situations Existed in the Past?”
When introducing new initiatives or projects, it’s common to hear phrases like “there’s no precedent” or “this is different from anything we’ve done before.”
However, broadening your perspective reveals that within your company’s past, industry examples, and broader societal events, there are actually many cases with structurally similar frameworks.
The key is not just to look at “what the outcome was,” but to break down and consider:
- What were the initial assumptions?
- Where did it hit a wall?
- Why did it succeed or fail?
Simultaneously, we must clarify the differences from that time. If the environment, technology, scale, or stakeholders are different, the same outcome is not guaranteed. By grasping these “commonalities and differences” as a set, we can avoid the easy horizontal scaling of past successes and judgments lacking solid grounds.
3) Ethical Perspective: “Who is affected, and how?”
Professional judgments inevitably impact someone. The effects extend to clients, users, field members, organizations, business partners, and even society as a whole.
Key considerations here are:
- Who benefits in the short term?
- Is anyone disadvantaged in the long term?
- Are there indirect impacts beyond direct effects?
Compliance with laws and rules is a minimum requirement, but it alone is insufficient. Asking yourself, “Can I confidently explain this decision to those affected?” becomes a powerful benchmark for judging the quality of your judgment.
This question also determines whether high professional expertise directly translates into trust.
Learning Methods You Can Sustain Even When Busy
Liberal arts education doesn’t require large blocks of time to study. Rather, sustained long-term engagement naturally enhances practical decision-making in your work. The key is to “connect it to your own job.”
Furthermore, it’s crucial not to learn abstract knowledge, but to link it to the challenges and decisions you face in your current work. Doing so transforms it from mere knowledge into a practical perspective you internalize.
For example, reading a “history book” on topics close to your work—like reform, technology adoption, or crisis response—once a week could be beneficial. Reading while asking questions like “Why was that decision made back then?” or “How would my organization decide?” prevents it from being mere memorization of case studies. Instead, it builds your decision-making framework.
In philosophy, even redefining a single term that stalls a discussion can be sufficient practice. In literature, practicing summarizing content from the reader’s perspective is effective. There’s no need to aim for perfection. Simply setting aside time once a week to think about how it relates to your work will gradually change how you perceive things.
Liberal Arts Strengthen Expertise
Liberal arts are not a substitute for expertise. They provide the foundational judgment needed to apply expertise correctly in the field.
If you increasingly find yourself in work situations where “there’s no single definitive answer,” “discussions don’t align,” or “explanations don’t get through to others,” this isn’t a sign of lacking ability. It signals a shift in the type of judgment now required.
Deepening your expertise while broadening your perspective through liberal arts. While it may seem like a detour at first glance, it could actually be the fastest route to improving the quality of your judgment.
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