A friend and I started discussing politics via email. I thought that I was apolitical. It turns out that I have many opinions but they are not fully formed yet. Rather than publicly refine my politics I decided to share part of my response that applies beyond the realm of politicos.

Laws exist that allow groups of people (corporations) to be treated legally as if they were individuals. This works because at some point all decisions made and actions taken by corporations occur through individuals. We do not have any autonomous robots or computer intelligences running amuck. The world is still made up of individuals who all make the “best” decisions possible with the information available to them at the time. We may argue that there are opposing definitions of “best”, but I contend that each decision is the “best” possible with the information available.

This view of the world motivates several thoughts that are directly relevant to the topic at hand. First of all, assuming that people have made the best decision possible with the information available allows us to step back from a disappointing situation and acknowledge our own role in creating that situation. We may have been negligent in providing certain information. We may be disappointed because of a difference of opinion on what is “best” in a given situation. It may even be a combination of these two, where the information we did not communicate clearly was our own expected outcome.
“Disappointment requires adequate planning.”

Next time you are less than ecstatic with an outcome take a moment and ask yourself some questions like these:

How much of the current situation is based on my reaction to the outcome rather than the outcome itself?
What other information, if communicated clearly, would have gotten a “better” outcome?
What criteria am I using to judge the outcome? How do they compare with what I have communicated (verbally and non-verbally)?
What perceptual change do I need to see/hear/feel the outcome positively?

Feel free to comment below on how your experimenting goes.