“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” Abraham Lincoln
Eloquence can be the enemy of sense. This witty Lincoln quote is an example of the kind of thinking holding people back from working out loud. Why should anyone choose to remain ignorant simply to manage other’s perceptions? Negative perceptions may impede opportunities and relationships but ignorance is far more devastating.
In his defence, when Abraham Lincoln made this comment the cost of access to information was far higher than today. There was a real cost to learning and much lower level of general education.
Today we have the opportunity to learn and share so much more. We have the chance to be open about our process of learning and development as it occurs. Without testing our ideas, we will never come to know our limits and our potential.
Perhaps we would all be better following this advice of Lincoln as others work out loud: ‘He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help.’
