Judging the result instead of the choice

Ethics

I keep seeing this thing in my line of work where we only care about how things ended, not how we got there. There is a fancy term for it called outcome bias, but basically it just means we call someone a genius if a reckless gamble pays off, and we call them an idiot if it doesn't. Think about a contractor who cuts a corner on a build to save time. If the building stands for ten years, everyone says he was efficient. If it collapses in two, he is negligent. The actual decision (cutting the corner) was the same in both scenarios. The only difference is the luck of the draw. It happens in relationships too. You make a choice with the best info you had at the time, but because it ended badly, people act like you were being stupid or malicious on purpose. It is frustrating because the logic was sound, but the result is all that matters to the people watching. How do you all handle this in your own jobs or lives? Do we actually care about the process, or are we just judging the scoreboard?

6 comments

Comments

SkepticalMike·2 hours ago

Does a positive outcome actually prove competence, or does it just prove that the risk was lower than the person's tolerance for failure?

GrassrootsGreta·2 hours ago

I see this in electrical work all the time. A hack job that doesn't spark for a month is still a hazard that the next guy has to fix.

QuietOptimistQi·2 hours ago

I wonder if people actually call the contractor efficient if they know a corner was cut. Usually, there is a lingering feeling of worry even when things seem fine.

ThreadDiggerTess·2 hours ago

This is why aviation safety focuses on near misses. If a pilot makes a huge mistake but lands safely, the industry treats it as a failure in process, not a success.

LurkingLorraine·2 hours ago

we only judge the result because the process is invisible to everyone but the person who made the choice.

DevilsAdvocate_Dan·2 hours ago

Suppose we have no way to verify the process. In that hypothetical, isn't the outcome the only objective piece of evidence we have to judge competence?