The Invisibly Obvious

Have you noticed things obvious to you are not always obvious to everyone else?
I have developed a peculiar personality, and an uncommon way of looking at the world. I like to state the obvious, and when it is out there, in the open, everyone else sees it too. Then they tell me it was always obvious.

But is what I see and say really that obvious, or is it only obvious after I mention it. Like seeing how the clues fit together after you know the end solution.

So I decided to test it. Rather than immediately speaking up when I had a great idea, I would write it down and wait and see what others come up with. In group situations people often go round in circular logic patterns with unnecessary worry and lack a clear understanding of what the problem is or what their desired state should be.

I discovered 9 out of 10 people on committees are too timid to voice their own ideas. They are content to wait until someone suggests something, then they like to react to it with their opinion; as if planning is like a multiple-choice test. On reflection, this appears to be an ego thing. Most people are overly invested with their own ideas, and they feel bad when others disapprove of their ideas and criticize them. It is as if they think that because their idea is bad, their character is bad, and they are bad as a person.

Bad ideas need to be voiced. Often the stupidest ideas spark a new line of logic which evolve into something really innovative. Worry and fear of how your ideas are going to be received is the perfect recipe to kill inspiration or creative insight. If you hate something I write about, go ahead and say so… but be prepared to put your own, better solution forward. Criticism is negative, destructive, and ultimately useless; it only shuts down people from having new ideas. Feedback, on the other hand, is constructive. Feedback suggests how something doesn’t work, but then it goes on with a positive recommendation on how to improve it. Feedback is the attitude not of halting progress, but changing the direction to improve and build upon previous ideas. This is very different than being critical.

What is the “Rants of a Better Tomorrow” Blog all about?

I am often pissed off by the stupid problems society gets into. Yet governments don’t want to deal with them; so they assign committees to make it appear as if they are doing something. This is a dodge, a way to table an issue until it loses media momentum, then can be safely ignored. If the delay is long enough it may pass into the next term of office where it becomes someone else’s problem. This makes me angry because as our ‘leaders’ dodge responsibility and fear public ridicule, the whole of our society loses, by procrastinating on an issue that actually needs to be dealt with.

The obvious solution is often one that isn’t going to be very popular. It may incur a high cost, or be politically incorrect, or just be a bad attempt. But at least it is an attempt. The first bad idea to which we can build upon. This blog is all about good and bad ideas to attempt to solve the problems we face in society. They are all one off articles. Feel free to leave both positive and negative comments.