We live at a CYA time
Francisco Miraval
I am a philosopher committed to understanding the human condition, grappling with existential questions, and longing for creative dialogue. I apply my knowledge and expertise to my professional and community work.
No doubt about this: we live at a CYA time. This, of course, is not the first time we need to “activate” a good CYA strategy. In fact, I still remember when, 20 years ago or so, I first learned about this strategy.
It was one of my first large consulting jobs and another consultant, let’s call her Myriam, frequently said things like “This is a CYA time” or “Another CYA opportunity”. All those years ago, I was unaware of the meaning of “CYA”, so, one day, after Myriam repeated her phrase for the umpteenth time, I asked her to explain the meaning to me.
“You don’t know what CYA stands for?”
“No, I don’t. Sorry”.
“It is easy: CYA means Challenge Your Assumptions”, she said.
At that moment, I realized Myriam was truly wise. I am sure she still is wise. When facing a problem, she didn’t rush to propose a solution. She didn’t call a committee meeting. She didn’t start a brainstorming session. First, she challenged her own assumption and, in doing so, invited others to challenge their assumptions.
Challenging our assumptions means to accept that what we assume we know we don’t, what we think it is real is not, what we consider is ours is just an illusion. From a grain of sand to God/The Universe and back, we should challenge all our assumptions.
After all, we have to do it. We must do it: the same cognitive machine that we use to generate knowledge is the same cognitive machine that generates self-deception. For that reason, challenge our assumptions to separate knowledge from self-deception is the foundation of wisdom.
At this challenging time, please take a moment to practice “CYA”.
One final thing: it has been brought to my attention that there may be other meanings of “CYA”. If you were thinking about something else, please kindly challenge your assumptions. .