George Bernard Shaw said, “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable man adapts the world to himself. All progress depends upon the unreasonable man.”
Some have observed that most people are reasonable, that’s why they only do reasonably well.
I’m sure there is something to that, but don’t we need to clarify things a bit. What does the word “reasonable” mean? And are we saying that being unreasonable is a formula for success?
First, if we’re saying that reasonable means never trying something new, always sticking with tried and true things - then it’s plausible that innovation and progress stem from ideas that challenge those things. But if we’re saying that being unreasonable is the failure to deal with reality, the inability to see things as they really are and a host of other mental difficulties - then I’m not on board with the idea Shaw wrote of.
In recent months I’ve been studying the knack of seeing things from a different perspective. It’s a worthwhile pursuit to help our minds get unstuck. It’s not intended to eliminate reality. The world is full of drug addicts who lack the ability to be reasonable. They don’t behave in reasonable fashion. They don’t think of consequences in a reasonable fashion. And they’re hemispheres away from being productive, much less progressive. That’s why reasonable versus unreasonable needs some qualification. It’s just not as clean and easy as Shaw may have wanted to make it.
Through the years I’ve been involved in business initiatives that involved (cough) “thinking outside the box.” Traditional ideas sometimes give way to new ideas. Just the other day I was reading about a trend in appliance retailing in California - where we know most unreasonable people live. Here’s the trend: opening Tuesday through Saturday, closed on Sundays and Mondays. Here’s the thought: every employee has the same two days off each week. The result is all hands are on deck for the days the store is open. That prevents customers from coming back later, only to find the salesperson who helped them is off. It’s a novel idea because it challenges what retailers have believed to be true. And it’s contradictory with the big box retail notion that 24/7 is the way to go.
Does it work? I don’t know. Employees love it. Do customers? I don’t know. Does that make it a bad idea? Or a good idea? Again, I don’t know. I need more information, but it’s not unreasonable to me because I enjoy considering “what if” questions. And maybe that’s the key to all this reasonable talk. What if?
What if things weren’t as they seemed? What if that realtor radio spot that claims realtors can get 16% more for your house than you could by selling it on your own is all wrong? What if it’s a lie? What if the car dealer is lying when they say they can’t discount that new car you’d love to have? What if that intimidating boss wouldn’t fire you if you spoke your mind?
Progress comes when people (reasonable or not) ask the question and take the time to answer it. It’s easy to ask. It’s much tougher to answer.
What if retail stores closed on Sundays and Mondays?
What if we could earn as much selling our house as we would through a realtor?
Just consider those two ideas and let your mind go wild with thoughts of how life would be different. Just consider those two ideas and think of the business opportunities that might result.
Maybe the real issue is our point of view. For some, it’s easy to question traditional points of view. For others, it’s almost impossible. Traditional retailers might find the thought of closing on a weekday insane. Meanwhile, there are retailers who only open on certain days of the week and they wouldn’t think of following the crowd. I know a popular restaurant that is only open Tuesday through Friday. Go figure.
Point of view. Maybe this is the difference between what Shaw thought of when comparing reasonable and unreasonable men.
As young man I recall reading about an interview conducted with Frank Zappa. The interviewer had a wooden leg. He said to Zappa (a smarmy character), “With your long hair, from where I am sitting you could be a woman.” Zappa replied, “From where I am sitting you could be a table.”
(That’s a picture of now deceased Frank Zappa. He doesn’t exactly look like a reasonable man, does he?)
For as long as I can remember I’ve wondered why some people behave so foolishly even though they are intelligent. How can a well educated person with a pretty high “get it” factor do things in life that are simply moronic? How can a person with tremendous advantages (environment, education, background, etc.) do things that constantly sabotage success?
I can’t say I’ve found any real answers to such questions. In fact, I can’t even tell you I’m any closer to understanding these things.
Foolishness strikes all of us at some time or another. I’m not speaking of those momentary incidents of foolishness that occur in every life. I’m referring to the string of behavior, the array of decisions and the ever present lack of wisdom in the lives of some people. I know I’m not alone in these observations. Others have talked with me about seeing it in the lives of friends, family and even enemies.
We all feel stupid when we run out of gas, or lock our keys in our car, or lose something. Perhaps foolishness entered our minds but for a moment and BAM - we became flash morons. But it didn’t last. We recovered. We got gas back in our tank. We got our car opened so we could retrieve our keys. We found whatever we lost. And it would be a long time before we ever did it again. That’s how many of us experience foolishness.
I’m not talking about that. The foolishness I speak of is almost a complete lack of wisdom in making sound decisions that can help us live better, enjoy greater success and put us in better situations.
Young and old alike suffer from it. I fear some younger people think wisdom will suddenly appear in their life. They never stop to realize that wisdom takes effort, hard work and commitment. It takes thought. So, I’ve come to conclude that much of the problem is a lack of thoughtful analysis - a failure to think a thing through. That is, the foolish people I’m thinking of all have that in common. They don’t consider consequences. They don’t see a bigger picture. They don’t see a future, only NOW.
Let’s take our petty examples of running out of gas, locking keys in a car, or losing something. Running out of gas may be an accident for some. It may be the result of being pressed for time. It may be the result of miscalculation. It may be the result of being in the Arizona desert where there are no stations. For the chronic fool it’s more than that. It’s a thought, “I don’t want to stop and get gas now. I need to get to work.” NOW overrides any consideration of future consequence - running out of gas.
For the chronic fool keys may be locked in a car because something pertaining to NOW grabbed their attention causing them to lock the keys inside the car. Or, something was lost because they didn’t put it in its rightful place due to something that distracted their attention - NOW was more important than putting the item away where it belongs.
It’s a pattern of life for some people. One bad decision followed by another bad decision, and another, and another. Sometimes they freely admit to feeling “stupid” but I don’t think it’s a matter of intelligence. They’re not stupid. They’re foolish - not wise. They’re like a 500 horsepower car that isn’t able to get traction. They can’t take full advantage of their intelligence because they’re spinning their wheels with poor behavior patterns.
How can the cycle be broken?
I’m still searching for the answer, but I do have some ideas.
1. It will never happen unless/until the person realizes they’re on a treadmill of poor behavior. This is the toughest thing. Most of the foolish people I’ve encountered are far too busy justifying why their bad decision wasn’t bad at all - it just didn’t work out for them this time. Insanity is a by product of foolishness. If they keep doing what they’ve always done, eventually they will get the result they’re looking for. They’re deluded and you’ll be hard pressed to convince them otherwise. Two words of advice, “Good luck.” There are some people in my life I’m still trying to convince of this first step. So far, I’ve not had much luck.
2. Take a closer look at how you make decisions. What factors do you consider? Write them down. Review past decisions, but let me warn you - your memory will be selective. Your mind will fill with excuses and justifications. That’s okay. Keep writing down what you recall, but at the same time concentrate on making notes of present decisions. Grab a piece of paper and start making notes of what you’re thinking. Do it NOW!
Warning: It’s very likely the mere making a notation of your thoughts will bring about a different process than the one you’ve been using. The fact that you’re writing down how you’re approaching this pending decision will result in a different approach - a more sober approach.
3. Ask yourself how your decision choices might affect your future. Decisions aren’t made in a vacuum, but most foolish people behave as though they are. It’s reminiscent of that joke, “My daddy married his sister, but it didn’t affect me.” Funny, but highly unlikely. Cause and effect are present in all our lives. We’re all the result of our decisions - for good or bad. Luck, chance and all the rest happen to everybody whether they’re foolish or wise. But it is true, “The more I practice, the luckier I get.” Some golfer said that. I’m not sure who. But he was wise.
4. Be sober. Take your life seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously. Living in the moment is fine, but it can’t characterize every aspect of your life - unless you want to continue to be a moron. Wise people do plan, prepare and consider the future. The fools I know, don’t.
5. Know that your past poor decisions do not have to have a bearing on how you’ll live in the future. Learn from your mistakes. The only way to do that is to examine the mistake and figure out how you could have altered the outcome by making a better decision - taking different courses of action. Neglect that self-examination and suffer the consequences.
Of course, all of this may be foolishness. There might not be any antidote for foolishness. Maybe wisdom is simply beyond the comprehension of some people. Others may be destined to be the morons who curse us all. Perhaps I’m chief among them, but don’t know it. Maybe it’s a true saying, “Ignorance is bliss.”
Maybe not.
