Shades of gray

Shades of Gray I often hear people make the comment that "things are not so black or white". However the more I think about the saying I wonder where the shade of gray does comes from. I have come to the conclusion that the appearance of gray is our apprehension, fears, emotions, and biases. These are the elements that muddy the waters making it difficult for us to see, make decisions, develop conclusions, and determine solutions. We inject what I call a "personal pendulum" into the situations that causes our thought process to sway back and forth, from right to wrong, black to white occasionally stopping at moments of indecision and uncertainty.

Sometimes we just need to see things for what they are, black or white. Focusing on the gray areas and making decisions based on emotions and moods could get us in a bad predicament.

Anytime we come to a conclusion especially relating to people's lives and careers, there should be a defined and consistent rationale for our thought process. The criteria should be specific, quantitative, and reasonable. That means there should be no gray areas or maybe's; people should know exactly what our methodology is to see our action as fair and factual. Furthermore the standard we use to measure similar situations must be repeatable and produce the same outcome.

That's right, we set precedence every time we make a judgment; people are watching to see if we renege or at any time come up short on our promise.

Although, shades of gray may signify we are empathetic; it gets us caught up in the "what if, could have" something that is not there but possibly could be. This is where we deliberate, rationalize, and become uncertain about what to do. Also staying in the gray area could be seen as a copout and failure to take responsibility. By not making the decision we pass the problem on to someone else. Not because we do not see things as black or white, that does not mean others don't. People often judge us based solely on what they see; if we are afraid to make decisions they see us as weak, if we apply the standard inconsistently they see us as biased and unfair; if we procrastinate or don't show they view us as lazy, unreliable, and useless.

What I am saying is that there is very little shade of gray in most of the things we contemplate; it is yes or no; right or wrong; good or bad. Injecting our "personal pendulum", feelings void of facts, into the verdict remove validity from the argument and make it worthless. Then by our actions, we give people a reason not to trust our ability to lead and protect their interest.