Well, as one of the facets of life I particularly value is personal growth, it is always a positive thing when it happens – especially unexpectedly.
Today I was running an Inflection Point Workshop and I mentioned that the phrase: “It is what it is” is one I hear often and dislike. Why? Well because in my mind it has always been synonymous with a surrender of accountability. In other words, “it is this way and there really isn’t anything to be done about it, so why try?”
To me that has always meant an abdication of responsibility to challenge and seek alternative, perhaps better ways. Sometimes it is a phrase used to justify inappropriate behavior. “Oh, he’s just like that – it is what it is”.
So where’s the learning? One of my fellow work shop members called me on it and described a different interpretation, one that I hadn’t previously thought about. For her, that phrase means: “This is the situation, no point in over-analysing it, what do we do to move forward?”
So, whenever we hear the exact same phrase we will have a different interpretation. The learning for me was this: Think about possible interpretations of a phrase before jumping to a conclusion about intent. Especially if your thoughts lead to action or words that might be inappropriate.
Are there any phrases/language that triggers a similar reaction for you? Is it possible there is another way to look at it? If so, perhaps that was the intended message.
