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Make things better by making better things.
When we don’t have enough information or context to a complex problem, we immediately jump to conclusions to get over the gap of knowledge we lack.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. How could you be an expert in every aspect of your life? I write more than most people but am a terrible mechanic. And while creating shortcuts in decision-making can aid us, it also hurts us by creating blind spots. It may be a good idea to walk fast in a dark alley when you see someone in a hood, but then again, are we just imagining a problem that doesn’t exist?
When we don’t fully understand how things work it creates tension. It challenges our authority and status. And instead of sitting with it, we look for ways to resolve it quickly. Even if we are just creating the appearance that we know better. Compounding the problem, we rely too much on our biases/prejudices to make these decisions.
We have a difficult time, especially in a position of power, saying, “I don’t know.” Yet, we have people right now on Capitol Hill making decisions for the masses who are uninformed, who are afraid, and who see the world differently than you do. It may be the best system we got, but it is also flawed.
No one is an expert in every category–even if we pretend we are. Your title doesn’t give you authority, only responsibility.