The Largest Obstacle To Progress

Many people are demanding to see Progress in the World.

People see that there is a lot that isn't working well, and they want Leaders to start making a difference instead of seeing them do nothing from Ivory Towers.

So, what is standing in the way of Progress?

It can all be brought down to one word...

Doubt.

In order for Change to occur, there needs to be a Path.

We need to see what will help us toward the Goals we want, and what will hinder us.

Without being able to see that Path, people struggle with moving in any direction.

This is where Doubt comes in.

When Doubt exists, it prevents people from seeing the Path.

If you compare it to a landscape, a Clear Vision is like a Highway, while Doubt is like being in the middle of a Jungle.

In that Jungle, you may have an Idea of where you want to get to - Civilization and Salvation - but you cannot see any Paths to get there.

There are many Bad Leaders who use this to their advantage.

Often, they will purposefully make things look Murky in an attempt to prevent the Truth from being seen.

If you want a perfect example of this, we can look at the Return-To-Work "Mandates" that have been ongoing.

When you read through Articles online, you will find some that say that Remote Work is Bogus and was a Mistake, even during 2020.

Other Articles online will tell you that Remote Work was a Godsend that will save the Universe.

Which Perspective is right?

Well, technically both sides tend to be at least a "little" inflated, at least most of the time.

As you can already see, there seems to be a "Debate" around it, which makes things look potentially Doubtful.

But one of the perspectives must at least be "closer" to the Truth, right?

Well, Data usually can help us understand.

However, the biggest problem we see is that the world of Scientific Research is filled with papers that are designed to further create Doubt.

If we take the Remote Work Data as an example, you can find Research Papers that argue for both sides.

How can Scientific Research should "both" sides of things that seem to be at odds with each other?

How can one Research Paper show that Productivity decreased while another shows that Productivity increased?

This is the Problem you are seeing - Data can be "skewed" to show almost anything.

For Instance, did you know that Margarine consumption is correlated with Divorce in Maine?

Should you get rid of Margarine to have a happy Marriage?

Or what about how Eating Mozzarella Cheese is correlated with the number of Civil Engineering Doctorates that are awarded?

Should you start stuffing your child's face with Mozzarella Cheese to ensure they get their Civil Engineering Doctorate Degree?

Now, both of these claims "should" sound ridiculous, but if you look at side-by-side graphs, they can "appear" to be true.

We often see Research that "says" it shows something when it isn't "really" what the Research is showing.

This isn't even necessarily the fault of the Researchers per se.

For Researchers to keep their jobs, they need 2 Things - Funding and Publication.

The Problems?

Most Publishers won't publish research unless it "sounds" interesting or is controversial.

Researchers are basically "incentivized" to make bigger claims than what the data shows or play into controversy.

Plus, MOST funding is done by extremely powerful companies who expect certain Results that "favor" whatever their goods or services are.

If Researchers aren't creating Research that makes their funders happy - there goes their funding and jobs.

So what can we do about it?

The key is to learn how to Understand what Data is really showing.

If we go back to our example with Return-To-Office Mandates, what we end up seeing in Understanding the Data is this...

Remote work is more Productive than In-Office work as it is today.

Much of the Anti-Remote Work Research either doesn't show what is being claimed or has no data to support it at all.

There are some "Individual" cases where Productivity "appeared" to drop, but you will also see things like Useless Meetings increase which led to Employees having less time to do their productive work.

You can't blame Employees for being less "Productive" when they are given less time to do their work.

Even things like "Serendipity" have been shown to be bogus, as looking at the Research Trends, Remote Work has OUTPACED the number of Innovations of In-Person Work as Technology has Improved.

Now, are there also Benefits to In-Person work?

Theoretically yes, BUT there is a difference between Theory and Practice.

Today's world and how offices currently are created do not provide a space that allows the "Theoretical" to occur.

At the end of the day, when it comes to that "debate", all of the Research I have seen has shown that the "Pro-In-Person Work Research" has all been created to purposefully create Doubt and doesn't support the True Trends.

When you look at the Trends, if Remote Work "doesn't" work, it 100% has to do with Bad Leadership.

You can see my many Articles on the Subject to Understand this better.

Now, of course, this isn't the ONLY place where we see these problems.

Anytime you see 2 opposing views, you are likely seeing one side (or potentially both sides!) purposefully creating Doubt.

Learn to read and Understand the Data to find out which side represents the Truth.

There is one last thing I want to leave off on.

Yes, Leaders can use Doubt to slow Progress - we see it all the time.

But at the end of the day, it is a losing battle.

Progress will eventually happen, and the Truth will be discovered.

Do you want to be remembered as the Leader that purposefully prevented Progress?

Or do you want to be the Leader that Designed the Future?