ON PRINCIPLES

The recent censorship events have shown that many don't understand what's a principle.

If you only practice it when convenient, it's not a principle.

1/11

This doesn't mean that a principle cannot be partisan.

For example, "I put the family first" can be a principle.

But then you must put your family first, both when it's convenient for you and when it isn't.

Otherwise it's not a principle.

2/11

What is the purpose of principles?

They keep us focused on the long term when the short term would misguide us

For example, I do not like Trump. And yet, yesterday I defended his free speech. Because I believe that defending free speech is ultimately good for everyone.

3/11

Principles protect us from undesired or unthinkable consequences.
They protect us from the problems we didn't experience and from what could go wrong.

They are there for when we think they could be transgressed. They are there for when we think it makes sense to skip them.

4/11

Rights are a form of principles.

Rights are preserved by granting them to our enemies.

The moment we cease to grant them when inconvenient for us, we cease to have them too.

The moment we destroy their sanctity, we open the door to someone else taking them from us.

5/11

Imagine it’s 2024, Trump runs for presidency again, and he wins.

The Democrats, surprised by the results in a few counties, ask for a forensic audit of the voting machines but some get denied, “there’s no evidence”.

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2/ You, a Democrat, don’t like the answer, because the other party spent the last 4 years talking about interference during the elections.

3/ You get told to respect the democratic process.

But you do already want to respect it! Perhaps, you even believe that your candidate did lose, but now you get suspicions because the Republicans are dismissing the claims of foul play rather than investigating them.

4/ So, you begin asking question on social media.

But your posts get marked as “disputed”.

5/ At the beginning, you didn’t care too much about the result of the elections. But now, you see the fairness of the democratic process at stake.

How can you know that elections are fair, if claims of wrongdoing are dismissed?

You get angry.

ON DELEGATION

1/ Good managers understand the subtle difference between “it can be understood” and “it cannot be misunderstood”. The former assumes skill and motivation in the listener. The latter doesn’t assume anything; it simply works. Good managers strive for the latter.

2/ Instead, bad managers are content with simply mentioning or implying accountability. When, inevitably, one of their subordinates misunderstands or forgets, they blame him for not having understood.

However, by doing so, they imply that not understanding is an option.

3/ This will have consequences, as it is not that difficult to argue that an instruction was unclear. Earlier or later, someone will argue that, because instructions were unclear, he should be left out the hook. This is the beginning of a vicious circle that ends in mediocrity.

4/ To avoid this, good managers are so explicit in their communication with their subordinates that no one can possibly argue that there could have been a misunderstanding about them being accountable for the result of the task being delegated.

5/ In order to reach this unwavering level of explicitness and clarity, good managers are relentless in making the implicit explicit, even when doing so would seem an insult to the intelligence of their interlocutor