Can and Should

Can and Should are in constant tension. They both imply something that has not yet happened--in other words, they both are in the future. So here's the key question:

Do you want your future to be composed of cans or do you want a future of shoulds?

Should is closely related to could.

If you could do what you should do, would you do it? If you should and could but don't, what kind of future do you have before you?

Is your past characterized by "might have", "could have", "would have", "should have", or as my father was fond of saying, "mighta, woulda, coulda, shoulda?"

What's the difference between could and can? It might be knowledge or it might simply be practice. For many people, the biggest difference is the realization that there is something beyond "I can." Parents fill this role as do teachers, mentors and good friends. The process of revealing the new world of could is known as coaching.

What we should do is a function of goals, history and current context. Most of us get paid to know what what should be done. Most of us also take the easy way out and do what we can rather than what we could or should. In fact, "Do what you can," has become a universally accepted surrender. When the boss says it, it means that

1. they don't know what should be done
2. they don't know what could be done
3. they don't want to be bothered with knocking down roadblocks
4. they don't really care about the outcome

When I say it ("I did what I could.") it means

1. I know what should have been done
2. I know that I could have done more
3. I told them but they wouldn't listen
4. I was not committed to a quality result

We nearly always allow ourselves to choose the familiar path. When faced with a choice between can and could, we choose to do what we have done in the past--can.

We cannot get the data quality we need unless we have the governance we need and we can have neither if we continue to do as we've always done. This is macro as well as micro advice. Governance is not committees and steering groups, though it may have need of such. Data quality is not one definition, though that may be helpful. Both are about contextual consistency and predictability. This goal could and should be achieved in whatever ways are appropriate to the context within which the consistency is desired.

Consistency is a product of process and the foundation of improvement. Once the process produces consistent output, you have freedom to classify and categorize its output in whatever ways are suitable to its customers. We are currently engaged in trying to classify, warehouse and use inconsistent products created by inconsistent processes.

What could we do? What should we do?