After I published my last article “15 ways to be more pragmatic at work” I started to wonder if I’d overdone it by citing fifteen points about being pragmatic. Maybe I personally wasn’t very pragmatic since it took me fifteen points to make my case!
When I wrote my 15 points, the problem that I was trying to solve for was that for me the idea of pragmatism seemed very complex and I felt that I had to create an equally complex solution (one that required a fifteen-point process) to solve for it. The basic point here is that pragmatism has a lot to do with efficiency and perception.
If the input requirement I'm given is “build a box” and I create something wildly complex like a computer, you may say that I wasn't being very pragmatic. Whereas if I instead drew a box with paper and pencil and you liked it, you may say that I'm rather pragmatic. It all depends on how we define the problem, who's the audience or judge, and what's really at stake.
When it comes to making new things and getting the most out of life, all of us probably want to know what to expect before we take something on so we are prepared to advocate or defend what we’ve done once we get to the end. We don’t want to do anything without a purpose or to have a story to tell! We know that we won’t be able to mitigate all of the risks involved in doing what we want to do decide to choose the most important risks to mitigate and go down the road to fixing them. Along the way we may have to defend our actions and tell others that what we’re doing is the right thing and the step we’re taking is the right one. In others eyes, we want to be seen as capable, confident, and intelligent; independent.
A pragmatic solution to me is one that includes only as much complexity as is required to be deemed by the people who defined and/or are defining the immediate problem at hand as acceptable. To provide for this we have to know what expectations others will have once we’re finished. This is why we have to inquire and wonder and include others on our journey. This is why planning matters and this is why it’s nearly impossible to create solutions in a vacuum.
Let’s set our sights on replacing problems we have with solutions we like.
2 comments:
Indeed! In order to be pragmatic you must understand the scope of the problem at hand & understand the expectations of those who are requesting your help in fixing the problem.
Another interesting post on this topic - thanks for pursuing this thread. One interesting thing that pops out here is that you seem to take responsibility for thinking pragmatically both according to your own internal standard and according to a community's / client's standards. This strikes me as more challenging, desirable, and ambitious than relying on a purely internal or external frame of reference.
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