I enjoy that Bismarckian observation: alot of what people expect from politicians (especially on the macro level) either is not possible, or creates a bunch of unforeseen downstream effects.
Meanwhile, people get so worked up over politics that they don't plan for black swan events that impact them directly and uniquely. It's similar to how sociologists assume our "shared environment" is everything while ignoring the "non-shared environment" (including peer groups) that actually accounts for most human variation.
I like to systematize so I approach all my major (and many minor) decisions with a short planning sit-down of flow charts, alternate plans, and weighing options against each other with various methods. I look at people who just proclaim what they want, and pass off the details to others, with incredulous amazement.
This resonated with me because of my day job. The "show me the flow chart" test is a useful way of separating aspirations from strategy; and one I'm going to use daily.
One thing that genuinely surprised me after moving into management was how common this kind of thinking is, even among highly educated professionals. I had assumed that people whose careers revolve around planning and execution would naturally think in terms of constraints, trade-offs, sequencing, incentives, and second-order effects. Instead, I'm continually surprised by how many conversations amount to "this shouldn't be happening" or "leadership should just..." with no coherent explanation of how you get from here to there.
Sometimes the asks are so detached from operational reality that they really do sound like the South Park episode you referenced.
I'm all for having ambitious ideals. But once you've spent any time actually trying to move organizations you realize the real work is in the middle box. That's where priorities collide, incentives matter, resources run out, and people behave like people.
A good ideal points you in the right direction. A realistic flow chart is what actually gets you moving.
Great comment and it very much applies to business. In fact, I was messing around with creating a flow chart for this essay (it ended up being unnecessary and I think it would have added confusion) and all of the resources for them are really for businesses.
I enjoy that Bismarckian observation: alot of what people expect from politicians (especially on the macro level) either is not possible, or creates a bunch of unforeseen downstream effects.
Meanwhile, people get so worked up over politics that they don't plan for black swan events that impact them directly and uniquely. It's similar to how sociologists assume our "shared environment" is everything while ignoring the "non-shared environment" (including peer groups) that actually accounts for most human variation.
I like to systematize so I approach all my major (and many minor) decisions with a short planning sit-down of flow charts, alternate plans, and weighing options against each other with various methods. I look at people who just proclaim what they want, and pass off the details to others, with incredulous amazement.
This resonated with me because of my day job. The "show me the flow chart" test is a useful way of separating aspirations from strategy; and one I'm going to use daily.
One thing that genuinely surprised me after moving into management was how common this kind of thinking is, even among highly educated professionals. I had assumed that people whose careers revolve around planning and execution would naturally think in terms of constraints, trade-offs, sequencing, incentives, and second-order effects. Instead, I'm continually surprised by how many conversations amount to "this shouldn't be happening" or "leadership should just..." with no coherent explanation of how you get from here to there.
Sometimes the asks are so detached from operational reality that they really do sound like the South Park episode you referenced.
I'm all for having ambitious ideals. But once you've spent any time actually trying to move organizations you realize the real work is in the middle box. That's where priorities collide, incentives matter, resources run out, and people behave like people.
A good ideal points you in the right direction. A realistic flow chart is what actually gets you moving.
Great comment and it very much applies to business. In fact, I was messing around with creating a flow chart for this essay (it ended up being unnecessary and I think it would have added confusion) and all of the resources for them are really for businesses.
Good call not adding the flow chart. It's hard to top the gnomes or the miracle