“Wrong is wrong, even if everyone is doing it. Right is right, even if no one is doing it.” – St. Augustine
Many fear going against the norm because everyone wants to fit in. Nobody wants to feel left out or lose their means of security and comfortable lifestyle. But if everybody is saying “yes” in an imperfect world, then something is definitely wrong.
How do changes and improvements happen if no one questions the status quo? Who determines what is right from wrong? If all you hear is “good” news, are you not losing 50% of the truth? Why?
Since the world is in balance, every positive usually has a negative. If all you have is the positive information, you will never learn from your mistakes. When vital decisions have to be made, you are missing important clues to change direction if something is not working out. Are you not only increasing your risks and likelihood of making detrimental mistakes for your business in the long run?
If no one challenges or questions your ideas, you will start to think you are perfect. But once you become perfect in an imperfect world, are you not going to become obsolete much quicker? Why? What else is there to fix or learn from if you think you are already perfect?
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” How would you know that something is not broken if no one has the guts to tell you the whole truth? But then you have to question why do people have no guts in the first place? It all comes down to your business culture and an open collaborative environment.
How Does Your Business Culture Affect Creativity?
From a previous blog post, the business culture comes from the experiences of the Founder(s) and the employees. The starting point is the Founder(s) who tends to have the most influence in the company. If the Founder(s) is the type of person who always wants to get his or her own way without both positive and negative feedback, won’t the business become monotone and lack creativity?
The Founder(s) and managers must value diversity and open mindedness to allow others to speak their mind so everyone feels comfortable to have an open discussion. This grants a company to have a well rounded perspective from different angles especially when coming up with solutions. The sooner problems are addressed, the sooner it will be known, researched and solved instead of wasting time avoiding it.
If you avoid problems, it may affect other areas of the business and spiral out of control. Why? Because isn’t it better to solve problems while they are small and manageable? Letting problems grow in the background will keep creating unnecessary holes and who knows what else it will lead to?
All unsolved issues will also keep making its Founder(s) worry, which will negatively affect the mood of the employees and the company atmosphere. And if word of mouth is the natural flow in the human world, what do you think employees will discuss outside work?
Of course, everyone wants to only share their positive experiences and learning new things. Creativity gives employees the motivation for autonomy, purpose and mastery of their craft. But what if learning something new and thinking differently, especially learning from their mistakes, are taken away?
When this happens, won’t employees start to feel uninspired and lack the motivation to come up with innovative solutions? If their ideas are going to be ignored, who wants to exert the effort to speak their mind when no one is there to listen? If the Founder(s) or managers only listen to themselves, what is the point?
How Is Questioning Related To Web Development?
The purpose of object oriented programming (OOP) in Software or Web Development is to break down complex problems into smaller, manageable pieces. In turn, it becomes much easier to debug or spot errors before they even occur. Each function solves one part of the bigger problem.
Every function when combined completes and becomes the whole program. When technology changes and some parts become obsolete, only some of the functions need to be changed instead of an entire program. Better yet, tests are written specifically for each function to make sure it does meet the desired answers (positives, false positives, negatives and false negatives).
Similarly, separating out the presentation from the business logic and data layers simplifies updating the Front-end design without affecting the contents of the site. This breakdown into smaller parts eases website maintenance in the long run.
Questioning and challenging ideas keeps everyone involved and offers individuals an exceptional understanding of the source of the problems. When you listen to different perspectives, you gain flexibility and better decision making. Why?
“We cannot solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein
