Thursday, May 12, 2016

Your analogy begs the question, ma'am

So, at work (only six more weeks till I don't have to care one little bit) they're considering a major revamp and blend of two job roles. Many people think the proposal is a terrible, horrible mistake. A senior in the planning committee weighed in with a lengthy comment prefaced with:
Is it the best roadmap? Maybe not, but it's a start and I'd rather be moving forward than just examining the problem and taking no action.
Here's the thing: your critics don't think you're "moving forward". They think you're at best moving orthogonally to the goal, and most likely in the wrong direction altogether. If further examination proves them right, your jumping the gun means a longer trip with a lot of backtracking.

It reminds me of the senior who told us that apropos another policy
the train is moving. You can either ride it or get off.
And we asked, what if the train is moving towards a washed-out bridge over a ravine?

Analogies can be dangerous.

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1 Comments:

At 5:17 PM, May 12, 2016 Anonymous Kathie had this to say...

Sounds as though they believe in Hawthorne Effect (as well as proving to higher-ups that one is doing something, anything...).

 

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