by. Anthony Demangone
I'm not sure when I first learned of Occam's razor, but I've carried the principle with me ever since.
Just what is it? According to Wikipedia...
Occam's razor(also written asOckham's razorfromWilliam of Ockham, and inLatinlex parsimoniae) is a principle of parsimony, economy, orsuccinctnessused in logic and problem-solving. It states that among competing hypotheses, the hypothesis with the fewest assumptions should be selected. The application of the principle often shifts theburden of proofin a discussion.Therazorstates that one should proceed to simpler theories until simplicity can be traded for greater explanatory power.
You can use the principle in your management role, and it does a great job of cutting through the fog. Why did something happen? Go with the simplest explanation, until that is disprovedby facts.
Everyone loves a good conspiracy theory. Occam's razor, though, says before you look for conspiracies, assume simple forces were at work.
And so it goes with Banker attacks. Credit unions have it so easy! We don't pay anytaxes. (Wrong.) The playing field is tilted our way. We have an unfair advantage over bankers.
If that were the case, one would assume a flurry of de novo credit unions would pop up across the landscape. Or that banks would convert to credit unions. Now, that wouldn't be an easy transition, but it is possible.
