We've Always Done It That Way

Repetition without rigorous reasoning is ridiculous.

Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon I and Coronation of the Empress Josephine in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris on 2 December 1804 by Jacques-Louis David (Wikipedia - public domain)

Have you ever questioned a process that makes no sense to you?

Maybe you're looking at a colleague struggling with something—or even worse, they're doing it mindlessly—and you ask, "why are you doing it like that?"

And they shrug and say, "That's the way we've always done it."

Hey, I get the importance of tradition, particularly in families. There are certain rituals we'll perform because that's what we grew up knowing. It's why some families still serve cranberry sauce as a cylindrical column of semi-solid jelly out of a can on Thanksgiving, or why the green bean casserole is still a thing.

We've always done it that way.

There's another aspect to this too: it's easy.

Of course you'll still buy the same cream of mushroom soup, fried onion straws, and green beans: it's programmed into your memory. Why loo…