There is an old expression that my tribe is fond of quoting: Ignorance is forgivable, stupid is forever.
Events in recent days have motivated a recasting: Ignorance is forgivable, insecurity is forever.
This would explain the 1/3 of American adults who still approve of George W. Bush, and it applies to work situations in which a technical job requirement is assigned to non-technical people.
In situations like the latter, non-technical people give credibility to those who tell them what they want to hear: that nasty, time-consuming, manual process that you hate so much can go away, with no effort on your part – just trust us.
Would that it were so, and would that it were not so perilous to inform the non-technical folk that it’s never that easy, especially when you’re dealing with unknowns.
Some time late last night, after a day of aggravating emails, I just gave up on trying to tell the truth. I told my client that since they lack confidence in my judgment, maybe it’s time to bring in another resource to take a fresh look, on the “can’t hurt and could help” theory.
And I’m going to refuse to discuss this until Monday. I need that time to put things into perspective. That’s the plan, we’ll see if it works.