For and Against. Again and Again.
Running full tilt in one direction, wind at your back, completely caught up in it — and then walking face-first into a wall.
How frustrating is that? That’s what it feels like when the idea itself laces up the running shoes — pumped, wide awake, off we go. Where exactly did that wall come from, just to say hello to your nose?
The doubts. The objections. Those are the walls that have stopped many an original sprint of passion dead in its tracks. What was it again about resistance — in business, in politics, in private life? The for and against of a vision, before it sets foot on the planks of reality? Aren’t those the preparatory, considered, and above all critical thoughts meant to show a vision its honest chances and its honest problems, before those show up uninvited?
And then the idea sits on the bench. Dumbfounded. Frustrated. The enthusiasm of before is nothing but a shell. The arguments in favour were already packed in its bag, egging it on to start running. But the against? Full stop in a galloping sprint. And when the contradictions show up in the plural, they feel precisely that: repellent. The arguments against the idea are a brutal picking-apart — of the original passion, of the whole mad notion of pulling this thing off at all. Many a visionary finds themselves asking: “What drives these naysayers to tear my vision to pieces?” Well, these creatures also go by the name of devil’s advocates — they go looking for every argument that could send a project straight to ruin. Could. Because neither the for nor the against knows reliably whether it’s right. Or isn’t. But it’s their job to lay out the full spread of arguments and facts.
And there stands the poodle. Drenched. Wondering where on earth the enthusiasm went. It took me a long time to find anything worthwhile in all this back and forth. It was one of those key phrases that stick with you for life. The one sentence was: “Critical thinking makes sure you don’t go on living with a mistake.” Of course it irritates me, this barging in on my enthusiastic ideas and thoughts, when I’m already lacing up my own running shoes to release that one brilliant idea into the world. But being irritated? That’s the spark. That’s when the critical thoughts start running too.
No, the critical thought is not a problem-solver. It only points to the gap, to the thing not yet thought through. It’s not about whether the for or the against will win, either. But rethinking an idea or a problem is always a relief.
Afterwards. Simply afterwards.
Oh, I nearly forgot. The for and against makes sure you keep both feet — and both thoughts — on the ground of reality and don’t mutate into a smartarse.
So, let’s talk right here and right now about the for and against of a lucrative know-it-all existence.
OK?
NO!
