What positive Impact!?

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Ask yourself the right questions… Who would deny it? Who would deny the fact that asking the right questions is important? Who would disprove the importance of ‘the right thing’ anyway? Why would you even want that? Why bother showing that ‘the right thing’ is not right at all? Or perhaps that ‘the good’ is not even worth the effort?

Of course, you could ask questions about what ‘the right’ or ‘the good’ thing is.  But isn’t doing good, and thus contributing to something good, ultimately everyone’s goal? You want to make a positive impact, right? And isn’t it the case that difficulties arise when it is unclear how to define ‘good’, or when different forms of ‘right’ or ‘good’ seem to conflict with each other? 

Ask the right questions: all right then. But to know what the right question is, well, that’s another story. It is difficult to determine what a good question is. Let alone, what the right question is. And let’s be honest, how much time do you have to wonder about that? When was the last time you thought hard enough about something? When should you take more time to think about something than is, it seems, feasible? How many times have you made a decision without being sure whether it was the right thing to do? How sure do you need to be about something before you are able to make a decision? And does that apply to all decisions? (Are these questions good enough for you? Or are you starting to get impatient?)

Which considerations are leading for you in those moments? When you’re considering, in the back of your mind, whether to think some more, or to tie the knot and just decide? Some ‘more time to think’ might be something you would like in those moments. Perhaps you sense that it might even be necessary. Perhaps a voice inside tells you that you should take more time. But perhaps at most you make a semi-conscious decision about how important or necessary it is to use more time to think. Perhaps you mainly ask yourself ‘how bad can it be’ if I make the wrong choice?  At those moments – in a split second – what choices will you make?

Should I keep reading – CHECKLIST
✅ I take less reflection time than I want 
✅ I sometimes cancel meaningful social commitments 
✅ I sometimes ask myself whether taking a break would be a better idea

Please note that this is not just a practical concern. It might seem so, but I am not trying to make you think about whether you actually, practically, have the time or not. I believe that when you are doubting, in those split seconds, whether you have the time to think and when you make the micro-decision that you don’t, you lack a certain amount of mental space. Having or not having the time to think, and how to make time in your schedule, is not my concern here. My concern is that you think you don’t have time for the right questions.

Why am I concerned about that? Because I believe those micro-decisions that you are making in those split seconds internally, about taking the time or not, are crucial for you, your organization or company, the sector, the society, your country, the economy, Europe, the west, the world, sustainability, justice, freedom, equality, diversity, and the future of all of us, including all kinds of non-humans such as animals, plants, nature, the planet, the climate, and the future in the broadest possible sense. In other words: they are crucial for the positive impact you’re aiming for.

Asking yourself the right questions is important. No one would possibly deny that. But why is it important? What interest would we have in asking the right questions? I believe that the right questions will help us to discover what needs to be done. To find out if we are fooling ourselves, and to overcome our blind spots. A good question will also help us to unlearn what gets in our way.

Should I keep reading – CHECKLIST
✅ I really want to make an impact 
✅ I catch myself doubting the feasibility of my ideals 
✅ I sometimes refrain from asking a question because I think I’ll know the answer (and I won’t like it…I think…)