OpEd Pragmatism
Occasionally, my pragmatic spirit gets in the way. In a quick stand-up planning session after another meeting recently, I changed my direction two or three times in seconds based on new information from others in the meeting. One of the women in the meeting said, "I'm never marrying you. You change your mind too much." That certainly caused this happily married man to pause and go "What?" And of course, from her point of view, my friend was correct. I do change my mind too easily, or so it seems. In my defense, I realize I am pragmatic - do what it takes, and all that - not hopelessly unable to make up my mind.
That "What?" allowed me to actually read Fish's comments about pragmatism, and caused me to ask my friendly research librarian to order Margolis' new book on pragmatism. The librarian was able to show that only six copies of the book existed, and that, really, did I want to order the book? Closer reading of the OpEd said, "No, don't read the book. You'll go nuts."
Pragmatism "is among the 'very small number of Western philosophical movements ... that ... never exceed the natural competence and limitation of mere human being (Fish quoting Margolis).'" That says there is a philosophy called pragmatism. We make pragmatic decisions all the time. We overlay other codes of conduct on our decisions, but, given a bit of flexibility, those codes don't have to be inflexible. Strategically, when you are working with a team, go with the flow. Have some plans that don't change - grow xxx per cent this year - but be willing to change, sometimes on the fly, what you are doing day to day. That's my read on the situation, anyway. But, and here is my personal caveat from experience with my friend, sometimes it pays not to change your mind too often.
References
Fish, Stanley. Pragmatism's Gift. New York Times. Opinionator. 15 March 2010. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/15/pragmatisms-gift/?ref=global-home
Margolis, Joseph. Pragmatism's Advantage. American and European Philosophy at the End of the Twentieth Century. 2010.