Tuesday, October 6, 2009

i-TFTD #222: On Having a Stand and Changing It Too

i-TFTD #222: On Having a Stand and Changing It Too

#222-1. We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over.
-Ambrose Bierce

#222-
2. Be courageousits the only place left uncrowded.
-The Body Shop

#222-
3. When people are born they are supple, and when they die they are stiff.
When trees are born they are tender, and when they die they are brittle.
Stiffness is thus a cohort of death, flexibility is a cohort of life.
-Tao-Te Ching

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I find it interesting that we have modernity and progressive thinking in many spheres, which is all about breaking convention and old traditions, but we often replace it with adherence to new, unstated "rules of the game". Taking a bold stand on an issue is becoming rare. It is easier to sit on the fence! and hedge our bets before identifying the winning horse. We are frequently advised not to rock the boat.

Having taken a stand, one should also be willing to change it if new facts or better logic demand it.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great quotes.

I think this has a lot to do with our leadership capabilities. You can't be a leader without taking a stand, or having an opinion. And you also have to be willing, as you say, to adapt to changing facts as new information comes in.

Good stuff.

RG said...

Thanks. I believe there are a couple of trends impacting this:
-Political correctness gone berserk
-Information explosion and an instant gratification culture that inhibits reflective thought.