Video Transcript

One of my favorite lyrics are from the Doobie Brothers song "What a Fool Believes".  Mike McDonald and Kenny Loggins won Grammy awards for this 1980 hit because it tells a story of a guy who runs into a girl he used to know and he cluelessly believed they had some sort of connection in the past while she is utterly clueless about who he is.  

But my favorite part is the chorus where he sings "What a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away. For what seems to be is always better than nothing."  There's so much truth to that. 

Have you ever talked with someone who refused to change their beliefs no matter how much clear logic or evidence you show them to the contrary?  I've had so many projects where I've done statistical analysis and presented to senior executives the data-driven findings in a clear and simple way. And yet some of these executives who claim to value a data-driven approach, ignore the very data that conflicts with their preconceived notions. I don't believe they're fools, but I do believe it suggests they have an ulterior motive or hidden agenda to where no wise man (or even a Master Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma) can convince them otherwise. 

But in the same way, how often do we do the same thing?  How often do we pursue objective truth so that we can be humble enough to hear when someone else presents evidence to us that challenges our long held beliefs?