Re:“It’s Easier To Ask Forgiveness Than To Get Permission”
by tialaramex on Thursday June 21, 2018 @07:38AM
(#17364123)
Sometimes the key thing is to make a choice, any choice is better than paralysis. This is often the case for military action during war for example, which is why it's usual for countries to have an executive military leadership which makes decisions immediately and is answerable to a ponderous legislature only after the fact. Most large organisations will face at least a few decisions in this category.
A corporate entity should have someone who has authority to do so, is willing to make those decisions, and accepts responsibility for their consequences even when bad. In principle this is the CEO role.
But much more often the right choice is essential, paralysis is better than the wrong choice, at least for a while, so we can afford to dither while we get the choice right. Of course if you're sure you're right this is frustrating - why wait for others to see your POV. But I have very little trust in anybody who hasn't noticed that they're often wrong. Such a person is inevitably short-sighted and their judgement untrustworthy, whereas those who know they're sometimes wrong should be patient to find out if this is one of those times.
Knowing whether you're facing a "any choice is better than no choice" situation is much easier than knowing the right answer, and I think "easier to ask forgiveness" is about people who take this approach when they know that permission is an option and choose not to take it. We should try to make permission easier, and forgiveness harder to avoid rewarding this undesirable behaviour.
Finally though sometimes choice is an illusion. It is not worth anybody's effort to give or deny permission for the inevitable, and we shouldn't praise the "decision" to accede to it. Recognising that something is inevitable and thus not subject to choice is trickier, and you can waste a lot of time discussing whether to do A or B when everybody in the discussions knows actually C will happen and the choice won't matter. Learn to let it go.
A corporate entity should have someone who has authority to do so, is willing to make those decisions, and accepts responsibility for their consequences even when bad. In principle this is the CEO role.
But much more often the right choice is essential, paralysis is better than the wrong choice, at least for a while, so we can afford to dither while we get the choice right. Of course if you're sure you're right this is frustrating - why wait for others to see your POV. But I have very little trust in anybody who hasn't noticed that they're often wrong. Such a person is inevitably short-sighted and their judgement untrustworthy, whereas those who know they're sometimes wrong should be patient to find out if this is one of those times.
Knowing whether you're facing a "any choice is better than no choice" situation is much easier than knowing the right answer, and I think "easier to ask forgiveness" is about people who take this approach when they know that permission is an option and choose not to take it. We should try to make permission easier, and forgiveness harder to avoid rewarding this undesirable behaviour.
Finally though sometimes choice is an illusion. It is not worth anybody's effort to give or deny permission for the inevitable, and we shouldn't praise the "decision" to accede to it. Recognising that something is inevitable and thus not subject to choice is trickier, and you can waste a lot of time discussing whether to do A or B when everybody in the discussions knows actually C will happen and the choice won't matter. Learn to let it go.