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...and lives were lost because people couldn't accept a correct procedure with an incorrect explanation. (Would you only take a cancer drug if the oncologist c

...and lives were lost because people couldn't accept a correct procedure with an incorrect explanation. (Would you only take a cancer drug if the oncologist can explain exactly how it works?)

abakker 7y ago
Off topic, but this is seemingly everything in management. So often, "Doing what feels right" can really pay off from a team/individual happiness POV. But, there is no "methodology" that could justify what I need to have a conversation with someone.
- inimino 7y ago
  Someone once told me the benefit of management theories is that they motivate people to take action, try things, and think.
- Ididntdothis 7y ago
  Or they have to come up with some bullshit metric that justifies things.
vonmoltke 7y ago
How do you differentiate a correct procedure with an incorrect explanation from an incorrect procedure?
- inimino 7y ago
  It works.
- Ididntdothis 7y ago
  Let’s simplify the question. How do you differentiate an correct procedure from an incorrect procedure? The correct procedure can be observed to work.
  - vonmoltke 7y ago
    The correct procedure has been observed to work, but not everything that is observed to work is correct. This is particularly true when "correct" still comes with a probability of failure in specific cases. Explanations need to be tested to verify they are correct. Incorrect explanations delivered authoritatively lead to bad extrapolations, which in turn lead to incorrect procedures. So, if something has been observed to work but an explanation has not been verified, the proper response at the practitioner level is "This tends to work, but we aren't sure why".
    - inimino 7y ago
      > The correct procedure has been observed to work, but not everything that is observed to work is correct. Procedures are neither correct nor incorrect but rather effective or ineffective. Whether the explanation is correct or incorrect is irrelevant if the procedure is effective. Of course we would prefer to have both the effective procedure and the correct explanation but if we insist on only applying procedures with correct explanations we are not doing the best we can. So, I would extend the proper response to, "This tends to work, we don't know why, but you should try it."

...and lives were lost because people couldn't accept a correct procedure with an incorrect explanation. (Would you only take a cancer drug if the oncologist can explain exactly how it works?)

abakker 7y ago

Off topic, but this is seemingly everything in management. So often, "Doing what feels right" can really pay off from a team/individual happiness POV. But, there is no "methodology" that could justify what I need to have a conversation with someone.

inimino 7y ago
Someone once told me the benefit of management theories is that they motivate people to take action, try things, and think.
Ididntdothis 7y ago
Or they have to come up with some bullshit metric that justifies things.

vonmoltke 7y ago

How do you differentiate a correct procedure with an incorrect explanation from an incorrect procedure?

inimino 7y ago
It works.
Ididntdothis 7y ago
Let’s simplify the question. How do you differentiate an correct procedure from an incorrect procedure? The correct procedure can be observed to work.
- vonmoltke 7y ago
  The correct procedure has been observed to work, but not everything that is observed to work is correct. This is particularly true when "correct" still comes with a probability of failure in specific cases. Explanations need to be tested to verify they are correct. Incorrect explanations delivered authoritatively lead to bad extrapolations, which in turn lead to incorrect procedures. So, if something has been observed to work but an explanation has not been verified, the proper response at the practitioner level is "This tends to work, but we aren't sure why".
  - inimino 7y ago
    > The correct procedure has been observed to work, but not everything that is observed to work is correct. Procedures are neither correct nor incorrect but rather effective or ineffective. Whether the explanation is correct or incorrect is irrelevant if the procedure is effective. Of course we would prefer to have both the effective procedure and the correct explanation but if we insist on only applying procedures with correct explanations we are not doing the best we can. So, I would extend the proper response to, "This tends to work, we don't know why, but you should try it."