Unleash the Power of "And"
In our day-to-day lives, we are often in situations where we have to make choices between seemingly conflicting options such as sustainability or luxury, profit or ethics, and preserving the existing image (of brands or people) or embracing change. It is this "either"/"or" situation that is often referred to as the "tyranny of or" [1, 2].
Try replacing the tyrant "or" with the friendly "and" in the phrases above:
sustainability and luxury
profit and ethics
preserving the existing image (of brands or people) and embracing change
A luxurious product can be sustainable, a profit making business can be run ethically, and it is possible to refresh the image of brands and people while maintaining the core ideology. Hence, pursuing multiple options simultaneously is often a possibility. We just need to start recognizing this possibility and embrace the power of "and" [1, 2, 3] when it makes sense to reduce the conflicting thoughts during our decision-making process.
As an example, a friend was once in a fix. She asked: should I undertake the work-related travel to another state, or decline the travel to stay with my kid? Applying the power of "and", I advised her to take the kid with her on travel and find a day-care that is close to where she will be working.
Happy decision-making!
Ritu
References:
- https://www.creationsmagazine.com/articles/C156/Howitt.html
- https://unreasonablegroup.com/articles/power-of-and-versus-tyranny-of-or-that-every-leader-faces/
- Daniel H. Pink, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future
Delivering Digital Platforms | Product Engineering, Enterprise Architecture, Business Consulting
4 年A different twist on this: Nothing is in black or white, and don't limit your choices to the options in front of you. There are always other choices you can make or even create. But just take care to apply this only to decisions that really matter and not overthink it. For example, don't go searching for or creating a hundred different options for what you will have for dinner tonight! In fact, taking a hundred options and narrowing down to a few smart ones, and making snap decisions is also a great quality! You can quickly pick the better option, or you can go around coming up with new ones. Which camp do you fall into?