Freewrite Day 369 Idiot

There is a saying in accounting that, “You can’t know what you don’t know.” This comes from trying to standardize procedures across regions and thinking that everyone will just do the task as it is meant to be done.

But they don’t.

Say you have 5 stores and you change a procedure. If you do not go out there and help the people change, you will end up with the task being done in 5 different ways. This is not because anyone is an idiot, but lots of people will think that.

Instead it might be that they misunderstood the direction. Or maybe they have something in their store that does not allow this new plan to work. It could be anything because, "You can't know what you don't know."

You cannot call people idiots in accounting. They are already afraid of you because you The Accountant. If you are The Fat Lady in Accounting they are even more scared of you.

So you go out to see what they are doing and find out they have a good reason for their failure to follow the procedure. It may be something that can be fixed and it may not be.

But the person doing the procedure is not an idiot, no matter what management might think.

Thanks to accounting, I do not call people names. It works just as well in real life too - because people are not the names we call them.

My post is for the #freewrite daily challenge by @mariannewest. Freewrite is a great way to post on steemit when you do not think you have the time, or talent, or anything to say. I know you can do this too! Here is Marianne’s freewrite prompt post for today. Give it a try and surprise yourself.