“What the Impressionists understood, in their endless debates at the Cafe Guerbois, was that the choice between the Salon and a solo show wasn’t a simple case of a best option and a second-best option. It was a choice between two very different options, each with its own strengths and drawbacks.”
– Malcolm Gladwell in David and Goliath, his newest book
“Most things in life are neither good nor bad, right not wrong. Most things just are.”
– Tom Graf, PhD
Gladwell talks about the difference between places “where reputations were made,” and how the “very things that make them so prestigious also make them problematic.”
It’s not about reputation, unless ethics and morals are involved. It’s about making a difference.
Starting in kindergarten, adults start imposing rules, most of which start with the word “don’t.” If we’re going to change the game — if we’re going to turn disadvantages into advantages, we have to think in terms of “do.”
What we should understand, in our endless attempt to make a difference, is that virtually all of our choices are simply between different options — and rarely do or die, make or break.
Jim Briggs says
So often, not only does the chooser not recognize this, but neither does the presenter of options nor asker of the question that requires a choice (maybe only choice of answer, but still a choice) to be made.