At work we sometimes discuss the PDCA process. That is: Plan, Do, Check, Act. You have to have a plan, but that plan will probably change as you go along. You can't get too married to your plan, or you'll insist on executing it even when it won't achieve your goals. You also can't just throw your hands up, and decide not to make a plan at all.
I think this process has gotten broken down somewhere along the way. It's actually kind of crazy, when you think about it. Certain things (like education) have widespread support. How we achieve a quality education is very much open for debate, and you can discuss common core or school vouchers until the cows come home. And yet we all agree our children should have a quality education.
So why, after decades of alleged interest in achieving this, do we seem unable to make it happen? Why does it feel like education has gotten even worse?!? If Americans are actually agreed that every American child deserves a quality education, then shouldn't we know by now what's working and what isn't? A quick search shows that there are people out there trying to make exactly this sort of analysis.
I think many are so caught up in proving a particular ideology that they stop checking in with reality. I'm trying to decide between going into that in more detail vs. moving on to strategy, and I figured I'd just link to some thought-provoking articles. Not saying I agree with these 100%, but they can make us more aware of our own biases.
- First is an article discussing some American strategic mistakes
- Second is an article discussing how people react when they read something that goes against their beliefs
- Third goes a little further into the backfire effect
- Fourth is a substitute article, as I can't find the original I wanted here. It's discussing what 'business friendly' public policies are. The one I recall had a whole list of things we could do that were not tied to the corporate tax rate, but this one at least discusses the importance of good infrastructure to supporting businesses.
So anyways. In this partisan day and age, where battle lines are drawn and people tune out anything that doesn't agree with their pre-conceived notions, I find most politicians and mainstream media are playing to those ideologies and framing issues to fit in with those ideologies rather than truly focusing on solutions.
In closing, I want to say "if it's a crazy idea, but it works...then it isn't crazy."
I think this process has gotten broken down somewhere along the way. It's actually kind of crazy, when you think about it. Certain things (like education) have widespread support. How we achieve a quality education is very much open for debate, and you can discuss common core or school vouchers until the cows come home. And yet we all agree our children should have a quality education.
So why, after decades of alleged interest in achieving this, do we seem unable to make it happen? Why does it feel like education has gotten even worse?!? If Americans are actually agreed that every American child deserves a quality education, then shouldn't we know by now what's working and what isn't? A quick search shows that there are people out there trying to make exactly this sort of analysis.
I think many are so caught up in proving a particular ideology that they stop checking in with reality. I'm trying to decide between going into that in more detail vs. moving on to strategy, and I figured I'd just link to some thought-provoking articles. Not saying I agree with these 100%, but they can make us more aware of our own biases.
- First is an article discussing some American strategic mistakes
- Second is an article discussing how people react when they read something that goes against their beliefs
- Third goes a little further into the backfire effect
- Fourth is a substitute article, as I can't find the original I wanted here. It's discussing what 'business friendly' public policies are. The one I recall had a whole list of things we could do that were not tied to the corporate tax rate, but this one at least discusses the importance of good infrastructure to supporting businesses.
So anyways. In this partisan day and age, where battle lines are drawn and people tune out anything that doesn't agree with their pre-conceived notions, I find most politicians and mainstream media are playing to those ideologies and framing issues to fit in with those ideologies rather than truly focusing on solutions.
In closing, I want to say "if it's a crazy idea, but it works...then it isn't crazy."
No comments:
Post a Comment