3 ms·

I'm always skeptical of arguments that go along the lines of "It would be so easy, if only we did the right thing". The truth tends to be that: * It wouldn't

I'm always skeptical of arguments that go along the lines of "It would be so easy, if only we did the right thing". The truth tends to be that: * It wouldn't be so easy, even if we did the right thing. * Doing the right thing is actually the hard part. * What you think is the right thing isn't actually the right thing. Most systems in place today are there for a reason. Organizations that do the wrong thing tend not to survive for a very long time.

ozim 7y ago
Funny thing it would be right thing, right now. In 5 or 10 years that "right thing" could as easily become yet another problem. Also most of the time right thing is not "right thing" for everyone because there will be always group of people who think totally opposite is the right thing to do.
justin66 7y ago
Yes, but the severity of a lot of problems would be ameliorated by simply not doing the very obviously wrong thing.
quickthrower2 7y ago
Doing the right thing is a very very high bar these days. I'd settle to not being bullshitted to, as a good step in that direction.
entangledqubit 7y ago
I do agree that it is tough to figure out what the right thing is but I disagree with the survival argument. A lot of organizations (e.g. companies, non-profits, and unions) end up spending a good chunk of their resources to try keep things as they are and keep the organization alive - despite the right thing being in another direction. This ends up keeping these organizations alive for far longer than they should. The systems of incentives can also become perverted by these organizations. Personally, I want to see more organizations devoted to solving problems and boldly becoming obsolete. The predominant reward models do not really seem to reward that. (Recent semi-related anecdote: see recent nytimes article about what happened to the project devoted towards designing and stockpiling inexpensive ventilators that came into existence after doing a risk analysis around SARS.)

ozim 7y ago

Funny thing it would be right thing, right now. In 5 or 10 years that "right thing" could as easily become yet another problem. Also most of the time right thing is not "right thing" for everyone because there will be always group of people who think totally opposite is the right thing to do.

justin66 7y ago

Yes, but the severity of a lot of problems would be ameliorated by simply not doing the very obviously wrong thing.

quickthrower2 7y ago

Doing the right thing is a very very high bar these days. I'd settle to not being bullshitted to, as a good step in that direction.

entangledqubit 7y ago

I do agree that it is tough to figure out what the right thing is but I disagree with the survival argument. A lot of organizations (e.g. companies, non-profits, and unions) end up spending a good chunk of their resources to try keep things as they are and keep the organization alive - despite the right thing being in another direction. This ends up keeping these organizations alive for far longer than they should. The systems of incentives can also become perverted by these organizations. Personally, I want to see more organizations devoted to solving problems and boldly becoming obsolete. The predominant reward models do not really seem to reward that. (Recent semi-related anecdote: see recent nytimes article about what happened to the project devoted towards designing and stockpiling inexpensive ventilators that came into existence after doing a risk analysis around SARS.)