Keep an Open Mind
Asking the Wrong Question
13/May/08
Is the
glass half-empty or half-full?
An optimist has one answer, a pessimist has another. An engineer has a third answer: The glass is twice the size it needs to be.
Now, the engineer's answer is not directly responsive to the question, but it comes from a valid point of view. It's a correct answer to a different question, one that may better fit the real world problem—Do we have the right glass for the task at hand?
Before a problem can be solved, the correct questions must be asked. If we become too focused on one point of view, we may miss a key element as we try to analyze a situation. Keeping an open mind is a vital part of a searching and fearless inventory of ourselves.
An optimist has one answer, a pessimist has another. An engineer has a third answer: The glass is twice the size it needs to be.
Now, the engineer's answer is not directly responsive to the question, but it comes from a valid point of view. It's a correct answer to a different question, one that may better fit the real world problem—Do we have the right glass for the task at hand?
Before a problem can be solved, the correct questions must be asked. If we become too focused on one point of view, we may miss a key element as we try to analyze a situation. Keeping an open mind is a vital part of a searching and fearless inventory of ourselves.
—Anonymous