What is a “must have”?

Language is important – almost always.

One of my pet peeves is the word “must.“

As in “We must have the feature «x»”, or in “We must do it in this manner.“

From my understanding these are incomplete statements. The missing part is about what happens if we don't.

Complete statements would include the consequences. And thus allow the discussion of the topic. When "We must have the feature «x» to avoid paying a £5 fine” we could easily decide that it is not worth the effort. Whereas if “We must do it in this manner to avoid paying a € 5.000.000 fine” the decision is likely to be different.

So, IMHO a “must” must have explicitly stated consequences in order to make it a helpful addition to a conversation.

till next time
  Michael Mahlberg

‘Yes’ is always wrong

Words don‘t mean the same thing to everyone. This holds even more so when doing intercultural projects. There have been extensive studies into that – yielding some surprising tools along the way.

Often I found that the simple word ‘Yes’ is a cornerstone of misunderstandings.

And for me that is true not only in intercultural contexts.

While a ‘yes’ to the question "Do you know Oliver Twist?" may mean “I‘ve heard of the novel” to some, it could mean “I've written my Ph.D. thesis on that subject” to others. And somebody else may know a person called Oliver Twist.

Because I've fallen prey to the ’yes-trap’ way too often I nowadays try to clarify my answers each time I catch myself answering ‘yes.’ And I try to avoid questions that can be answered by a simple ‘yes’. Asking “How do you know Oliver Twist?" makes both for a clearer answer as well as for a more interesting conversation.

till next time
  Michael Mahlberg