Saturday, January 29, 2022

The Saturday Morning Post - Oh I Can't Say That


 On the YouTube Channel Foxes Afloat Shaun is forever telling Colin "you can't say that!"  They even sell T-shirts with that quote on them.  I was sitting here thinking of my Saturday chat and I had some great ideas, the challenges of neurodiverse professionals, the importance of seeing the negative side of well meaning interventions, issues that are related to my work and the simple answer is I can't say that.  If I talk directly about my work, my employer owns the content. And I don't want that to happen, so I talk around it.  

I suggested the other day that we take a position supporting a social service effort, and the reply was multiple reports of that effort either being ineffective or even leaving people worse off than if no one had done anything.  It is not that it isn't well intended, but that the execution is often a disaster.  A friend texted me (we trade snarky texts during meetings) concerned that I was frustrated by my idea being shot down.  And initially I was surprised by the opposition, and kinda wished after the first three or four, people would quit piling on with me toos.  But, I needed to hear, I needed to listen and pay attention to the concerns. My next article on that issue needs to be what does not work and what might be done to fix it.  

All too often we blindly support good intentions, without seeing, or listening to the negative.  I thanked the group for the input and described it that I needed to take the temperature of the advisors before stepping forward, and in this issue stepping into the middle of a mess.  All too often I hear advocates saying, but for most people this really works, when the real challenge is for those that it does not work.  

Without me saying what we were talking about, maybe there is a model here that will remind us to always listen before we leap.  

11 comments:

  1. All that and all I want to know is, Where is that lion?

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    1. MGM Grand Casino in Maryland,

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    2. I should have known! I forgot about that casino (SG was there during our last visit). Even worse, I actually thought “That looks like the MGM lion.”

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  2. Anonymous1/29/2022

    You are right about blindly supporting good intentions, and ad to that throwing money at an issue without a lot of consideration.

    Shaun so often tells Colin to not say that and Colin 'bleeps' it, which makes it all the more interesting. They know how to perform. I will say though, I don't think we need cliff hanger moments. I don't think they will pick up more viewers with cliff hangers. Most YouTubers don't do that, except in other social media.

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    1. You must have watched Friday's release. I look forward to them on Friday evening.

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  3. Bad policies come from NOT listening to and considering all the possible negative outcomes. The dialectic of proposition and criticism is how ideas are refined and improved. People often take negative arguments as personal criticism which, of course, they should not.

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    1. It took me a long time to learn this, some never do.

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  4. It seems that in today's world, that is advice that is sorely needed and rarely followed.

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    1. I will do my best over the next couple of years,

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  5. Effective policy, statutes or regulations are never created in a vacuum or echo chamber. Not only do all intended and unintended consequences need to be identified, but the people who have to implement, administer and/or enforce policy or regulations have to be included in the design phase. Consultation also has to be real: even if their input is rejected, people need to hear why it was rejected so they know their input was actually heard and considered.

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