“...the effective decision does not, as so many texts on decision-making proclaim, flow from a consensus on the facts. The understanding that underlies the right decision grows out of the clash and conflict of divergent opinions and out of the serious consideration of competing alternatives.
“To get the facts first is impossible. There are no facts unless one has a criterion of relevance. Events by themselves are not facts.
“People inevitably start out with an opinion; to ask them to search for the facts first is even undesirable. They will simply do what everyone is far too prone to do anyhow: look for the facts that fit the conclusion they have already reached. And no one has ever failed to find the facts he is looking for.”— The Essential Drucker, page 252
<idle musing>
If only our politicians would learn this! Mind the qualification though: serious consideration of competing alternatives. I'm reminded of Stephen Covey's “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”
Of course, that's too dangerous! We might have to revise our opinions and admit we aren't infallible! Oh, wait, you already knew that, didn't you? Hmmm...then why aren't we willing to listen to others?
Maybe the reformers were right. Humanity is in se curvatus—curved in on ourselves...Only Jesus can break the curvature.
</idle musing>
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2 comments:
I've been saying for years that the only truly objective personage in our universe is God.
The more I contemplate God the more I realize how narrow, shallow, and self-centered I am. I've been thinking a great deal about Abraham.
Knowing that God condemns human sacrifice, still Abraham takes his son on a journey to sacrifice him. Just as Jesus is in the tomb for 3 days so Abraham is on the road for 3 days. Many years ago someone dramatized the scene for film. In this version Abraham is presented as a bitter and angry man who demands of God "WHY". We are told in Hebrews, Abraham concludes that God must be able to raise the dead.
Abraham spent his 3 days on the road thinking about God, not himself. Abraham did not dare cast himself as the yard stick for God. Abraham thought about God, and through his deep thinking about God he learned something completely new; God can raise the dead.
How often do mere human beings present themselves as the measure and judge of God? And what do we discover? We find deep bitterness and disappointment, but nothing about the living God.
"How often do mere human beings present themselves as the measure and judge of God? And what do we discover? We find deep bitterness and disappointment, but nothing about the living God." I like that; very well put.
James
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