Are there times you think you should change to fit the system?
This happens all the time to me, like for example when my bagel is cut in two even though there is bacon, lettuce, tomato, and turkey inside, making it a lot harder to eat when it's cut in two as opposed to eating it like a burger when it's still in one piece. The system cuts it in two, because that's how bagels are cut. Every .. single.. one. No exceptions, the system has spoken.
I used to tell the nice man or woman about to cut my bagel: "You don't need to cut it, thanks!".. which made them look at me in a confused daze, as if to say ".. r... really?".. I usually threw in a "They're easier to eat", which seemed to convince some, but not others. I disrupted their bagel cutting ritual and threw them the hell out of their element.
It became too much of a hassle so now I let them cut it. The system proceeds unhindered, there is no confusion, and I've gotten better at eating bagels.
Are there times you think the system should change to fit you?
Of course! Each bagel should be approached individually. Each time you get a bagel in your hand and edible ingredients have been placed inside and you happen to be holding a knife, you need to ask yourself: "Should I really cut this bagel?"
Perhaps this would create too much overhead.. I do not know... but it should definitely change.
I guess now I don't care as much, but it's just ONE example of the many injustices in my life. The big picture you can imagine - people pouring in milk on top of cereal by default, vanilla not being a real flavour, all sorts of BS
Are there times you think you should change the system and also change yourself to fit that new system, too?
I've had to do this, but the only examples I can think of are software engineering ones where software I've built has changed and my role within this system has changed as a result. So that's kind of different.
I guess ideally you'll look at every situation that comes up and say "YES THIS SYSTEM IS GOOD" or "NO THIS SYSTEM REQUIRES REFINEMENTS" or even maybe "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS, WE NEED TO START FROM SCRATCH" and then do the same for asking whether you need to change or not. It happens all the time in my line of work and sometimes in the real world in the form of bagels.
Are there times you think you should change yourself to change the system?
I have no answer for this, but do believe it happens.
How do you know when the right thing to do is to change yourself, vs. pin the burden of change on the system thats asking you to conform to it?
You don't, but by trial and error throughout your life you can hopefully get decent enough at figuring out what to change and by how much. Some things you just have no control over, however, and I find that with experience you get much better at figuring out which things you just can't control. Once that is accepted you can focus on the things that you
can directly change and get a lot more efficient at moving through life and getting crap done, whether it's a system being changed or yourself. Those abstractions can be a big distraction anyway, focusing on the details and letting go of the framework might make more sense for day to day type strategising. I wouldn't touch the "big picture" stuff except for my regular "life overview" meetings that I have with myself every 2 weeks or so. And if that hot dog cart doesn't fit some system I've put together in my head? Well, I'll figure that out.. tomorrow.
