What is pragmatism? Why do I care? How do I practice it?

#1

Originally published at: http://www.agileuprising.com/what-is-pragmatism/

Pragmatism is possibly one of those words you’ve heard 1000 times and feel confident you know what it means. I did. On the surface, it seems like a straightforward concept. The definition is simple: Pragmatism /’praɡmətɪz(ə)m/ (noun) : an approach that evaluates theories or beliefs in terms of the success of their practical application. The…

#2

I found this page when looking for images. I like the illustrator’s way of seeing the world…

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#3

Brad,

Your writing is so fantastic.

I really appreciate you and am grateful you’re “here.”

I need to read this a few more times to fully absorb it.

That said, one thing that comes to mind for me is a TED Talk “Trial, Error and the God Complex," https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_harford that explores pragmatism, that which just works, and the opposite, something that Tim Harford calls “The God Complex” - which feels to me like purism.

#4

That is a really good.The messages there are amazing and resonate loudly.

I was listening to a How I Built This with James Dyson podcast. James built over 5000 prototypes to get to the Dyson Vacuum that we know today. Like the talk it wasn’t about a perfect calculation, it was about change one thing and measuring the effect. Make more changes after that.

It was part of what got me thinking about how and why we do things, why it is important to make small changes that can be observed rather than everything at once. It takes patience and discipline, but the rewards can be there.

He may have been talking about a vacuum cleaner, a fan or a hand dryer, but our changes affect people.

We don’t have the answers, but we can change one thing and look at how it affect reality around us.

Thanks Andy.

#5

:slight_smile: I have seen it with the third person asking “where is the tap?”