For those who think Democracy should be
a collaborative experience.
April 7, 2008
Reader question ~Who’s entitled to an opinion?
Meryl
I am increasingly troubled by the large number of people who profess opinions on matters for which they are not entitled to have an opinion. Worse yet, people are taking into consideration these totally ignorant “opinions” in making decisions!
Polls asking people who have never studied military history, tactics, strategy, or even served in the military are being taken about how we should run the war, and are then being cited as reasons to pull out of Iraq summarily. People who have never studied physics, biology, thermodynamics or even read an unbiased technical textbook on the subject are spouting off against using nuclear power because it is too dangerous and are actively blocking potential safe new energy sources. People who have never cracked a economics textbook are weighing in on the subprime mortgage crisis, answering polls and spouting off on things they know NOTHING about.
New employees who have barely worked at the company a week are full of suggestions to reform how things are done, without bothering to do any research about why things are being done they way they are. The upshot here is that they shoot themselves in the foot at work. No real harm is done, except to the person who is spouting off without any credentials or background. In the other cases, we are looking at the very real risk of major policies being based on ignorance, bias and sheer stupidity.
I know that I don’t have the right to have an opinion on a very large number of topics, and that I do have the right to an opinion on a small number. If I am asked for an opinion on something I know little or nothing about, I decline to share my ignorance. Part of Speaking Strong is knowing when to keep your mouth shut, and another part is to quit asking the ignorant for useless “opinions.” I would like to see you address this issue.
Meryl Responds
I suggest that we’re all entitled to opinions as long as 1) we know that’s what they are – opinions and not fact, 2) we are willing to be influenced by opposing opinions and 3) we consider levels of expertise.
Many are skeptical of “authorities” these days, and rightfully so. Authorities have led us down some ill-advised paths. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t listen to experts. It does mean we should also listen to our ourselves if what an authority says doesn’t seem right.
Of course it’s important to understand why things are the way they are before we assume we know better. And it often happens that people new to a situation can see things that those who are close to the problem miss.
I agree that public opinion polls are a dangerous way to create policy. And they are a great way to find out what people do and don’t know. They also are a great way to find out what people are experiencing, which often gets overlooked on the decision-maker level. We are all experts – on how the world looks to us. It’s our piece of the proverbial elephant. If we put them all together, we just might get a glimpse of the whole elephant. The danger your question references is we tend to think we are seeing the entire elephant, when in fact we just see the tail. The opinion isn’t the problem – it’s the lack of perspective on our own opinions that creates problems.
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I’m concerned with your comment about “new employees who have barely worked at the company a week (who are) full of suggestions…”.
I agree that a little research on the new-hire’s part would be prudent, but in my opinion there’s nothing wrong with a set of “fresh eyes” offering their thoughts and opinions. They are — inadvertently — asking “why” without actually saying “why”.
Further, your comment that the “upshot” is that the person shoots themself in the foot and suggest that they immediately lose credibility. It sounds (and I apologize if this isn’t how you meant it to sound) as if you’re happy when they “spout off” and lose credibility. With a newly-hired person, they’re excited and eager — the perfect time to listen to what they have to say and, more importantly, educate them on current policies, etc., of the company they just joined.
I completely agree with you that there are far too many people in the world who are offering opinions and coming off as an “expert” when they’ve got no more education and experience than anyone else out there.
Comment by Judy — April 11, 2008 @ 2:34 am
Quite the contrary about the new employee, I agree with you that they should be listened to and it is too bad that they end up losing credibility. Unfortunately, in the real world, if they take the making suggestions route instead of asking questions, that is what happens and it is the company’s loss.
If it were up to me, I would have every single employee take one day a year to evaluate what they do and see if every single task actually needs to be done, and if it does, if it needs to be done that way.
As a new employee myself, the tactic I have taken is to ask, specifically, why something is done a particular way. Failure to give a good reason has led me to examine it and see if I could propose a better way. My good bosses have actually let me make changes to make the organization more efficient.
The bad bosses? Well, let’s just say they got the minimum out of me after they “put me in my place” and I put my talents to better use elsewhere, preferably sooner rather than later.
Comment by Sharon — April 30, 2008 @ 5:27 pm