Theory Mending

Did you also notice this interesting phenomenon?

1.
There are tons of articles telling you different ways to find out what your target customers want (demand research & analysis). In some of them, interestingly, you may find at the end the last tip saying this: sometimes your customers don't know what they want...

It's just another way of saying: to hell with demand research & analysis and just follow your heart.

2.
In articles or books or blogs claiming the death of last century's business philosophy, and telling us how to stand out & do something really unconventional & counter-intuitive...you may eventually find something that's not so new at all: business fundamentals.

It's just another way of saying: last century's business philosophy is not dead yet.

I call this Theory Mending.

You have really brilliant ideas, ideas that really help, so you gain people's trust and support. As time goes by, however, people found your ideas don't work wonders in every situation...

It's very normal. Do you still expect human society to be logical and mechanic and running on certain universal laws?

Yet you feel obliged to mend your theory; you need to make it workable under all circumstances. Maybe it's the support you gained, the following you care, maybe it's the psychological need for consistency...for whatever reason, you mend your theory.

It's now more neutral and less mind-blowing.

Is it because of the rationality that we human beings uniquely possess? We put So Much emphasis on the beautiful consistency & harmony of theories (despite the fact that it takes us further away from understanding dynamic human societies), while sometimes even in a lengthy thesis, it's actually those sporadic sparks of inspirations that really make a difference for us...

Do we need conclusion? If so...

i) let's face it, we are mortals, we are not here to give the answers. We spark possibilities, that's it. Even your most loyal fans shouldn't believe in and rely on you 100%. They get inspirations from different sources and create their own philosophies.

ii) I'm not saying we should quite scientfic approach or logical thinking in social sciences and humanities. Just that when you're done, take a break, step back, and take a look at the big picture. We both know the most beautiful theory doesn't reflect the robustly chaotic world we build...