Philosophy of Life

"I don't think you need it." Depending who says it, it can be taken seriously or not. I am a nobody. I don't control money. If I were to tell you that I don't think you need this IT system, and an Excel spreadsheet can meet your needs, you will feel that I am making a sweeping statement and not taking your requirements seriously. For somebody with a lot more power over money, for example, CEO or deputy CEO, if he tells you that an Excel spreadsheet can meet your needs, you will take it as that Excel spreadsheet can meet your needs. If we strip the job title, the judgement call is essentially the same, but when the same sweeping statement is made by a somebody, it is always taken seriously, much like if your parents don't give you money, then you accept that your parents are not going to give you the money. How do we differentiate the same statement spoken by a nobody and a somebody? The somebody was likely once a nobody who moved up the ranks to become...

It starts as an intuitive response that cannot be explained. What follows is seemingly random sequences of reasons to try to justify the response, which most of the time are incoherent. It happens everyday. My boss calls them sweeping statements because my reasons do not have a logical sequence. I have also been constantly reminded to not make sweeping statements, which I am unconscious of doing, but very consious to not make any. This is one little story. I was working on a cost estimation for a project, and I had to estimate the number of man days it will take to complete the project per year over two years -- it was a long project that could not finish within a year. I was asked how I derived the number of man days for each year and I said that I arbitrarily divided the number of days across the two years. I really didn't know how to answer the question then. I was asked to rework the whole estimate without making arbitrary assumptions. I consulted my colleagues to learn how...