Facts and Feelings--and Truth

We’ve all swilled a bit at the fountain of facts and feelings--at the expense of truth. I recently saw a headline that read “Prince Harry ‘needs to learn’ that ‘passion doesn’t equal truth’” and thought of all the times people tried to use passion (feelings) instead of facts (the original form of truth?).

We are influenced by the subtlest of nuances, the slightest turn of phrase or look. If it feels good, we want it. It it’s difficult, we often balk. Passion (feelings) doesn’t equal truth (facts). There can be many, many facts that shift the color of the truth--along with how we feel--and we still need to avoid mistranslations.

People, process, and performance need to be viewed in the “and” instead of the “or” to illuminate and accommodate how we feel about the facts--objective truth, countable, markable. In your business or work, you see this challenge every day--and wrestle with the “all or nothing” or “black and white” thinking that refuses any shades.