First Available Reason:- Do we take it too FAR?

Over the last several years, i have been exposed to an interesting phenomenon which seems gives a rational explanation to some of the irrational aspects of human behavior. I should thank my boss at work, a very wise man who triggered this thought process. This phenomenon is what i would refer to as FAR - First Available Reason.

Whenever a human is asked to provide a rationale for his decision/judgment, FAR invariably kicks in and we get into an endless mechanism of excuses/explanations which collectively sometimes makes sense but unfortunately fudges the point of view. A simple illustration is as follows:

"A subordinate is expected to be in the office at 9:00 AM in the morning for a client meeting. At 8:45, he calls up his boss to mention that he is stuck in a traffic jam and so can't make it to the meeting"

Upfront the excuse seems reasonable. However to understand FAR, you need to read between the words. The main thing to focus on here is the word "so". Without the so, the statement is fairly innocuous and is just a status update. The "so" transforms the sentence into a "cause and effect" syndrome. Here is where FAR kicks in. The subordinate is pretty clear that the reason why he is late for the meeting is because of the traffic jam. However his boss is aware of the FAR phenomenon and so decides to have a nice chat with him. Here is how it goes

Boss: "Hmm, traffic jam eh? Interesting! So where was the traffic jam?"

FAR subordinate: "Oh, it was near the airport.”

Boss: "At what time, did u get to the airport?"

FAR subordinate: "Well, at about 8:40"Boss: "Is it the usual route that you take from home?"

FAR subordinate: "Oh yeah. It is. I am an expert on this route. The traffic jam around this time is absolutely dreadful. The police don't seem to want to do anything and keep frustrating us every day"

Boss: "Indeed you are an expert. So i am sure you would know that the airport is about 35 minutes from our office even if the road was absolutely empty".

FAR subordinate: "Absolutely. I always hated our management team for putting up our office so far"

Boss: "So let me get this straight.

• You take the same route everyday
• You are aware of the fact that you will hit a traffic jam at a specific spot at a specific time
• You are aware that even if there was no traffic jam, you could still not make it your appointment.
• You also know in advance at what time was appointment.
• Still the traffic jam is the main reason why you could not make it to office in time today?"

FAR subordinate: "No, No, No. I think it is our management that doesn't seem to understand that we have to travel so far.”

Boss (with a smirk): "Oh, that makes sense. So it is our management that screwed up things and made it difficult for you to attend the meeting today. But I understand that you were among the guys who preferred this office as opposed to the one downtown which was not that spacious.”

FAR subordinate (now stuttering): "Of course, of course. To be honest, the real reason why i am late is actually the irresponsibility of the traffic police. They are so callous to the challenges faced by us and don't want to do anything about it. They are a disgrace to our nation.”

As one can see, in such a situation, the FAR phenomenon does provide some explanation for the ridiculous responses of the subordinate.

• The subordinate decided that the FAR - "the traffic jam" was why he couldn't make it to office on time.
• When his boss made him realize that the traffic jam was an expected event, the FAR became the "The management which decided to put up a office so far"
• When his boss again made him realize that the subordinate was an advocate for the current office, the FAR became "The irresponsibility of the police" and further the "the police have become the disgrace of the nation".

Normally the FAR cycle does continue till a point where the subordinate runs shot of excuses or does figure out the actual reason. In this case, the actual reason was that he had actually forgotten about the meeting and started for office in his usual time. When he got a reminder on his cellphone that he had a meeting at 9:00 (15 minutes before the meeting), that is when he realized his predicament and decided that the traffic jam was the cause for the problem.

Now this situation is not unusual and manifests itself in every walk of life. I have also been a victim of FAR for however long i can remember. However recently, i have realized a couple of things as the reasons for FAR

• An inherent hesitation to take responsibility for our actions
• An inclination towards self pity which subsequently becomes a comfort zone where poorly developed habits reside
• A desperate need to transfer the blame on to extraneous factors.
• Trying to find reasons to justify the point of view, just to satisfy our ego

So do we take FAR too far? I think so and this results in a number of unnecessary side-effects

• Breakdown of trust and credibility
• Unnecessary mental tension as we focus our mind towards finding the next FAR rather than sort out things in a rational way
• Poor problem solving skills. This results in poor judgments that can impact our life in fairly dramatic and painful ways.
• Sometimes, it can affect our families and subordinates and can dictate their behaviors as well. Just as mosquitos transmit malaria from person to person, we do transfer negative behavior very easily over our spheres of influence.
• Also often results in incomplete solutions. We think that the solution to the FAR will solve the problem only to find that it just cleared the way for the next one to be rearing its ugly head. This then turns into a situation which i would call as "Running like headless chickens".

How do we combat FAR? No easy solution but here are a few tips.

• Stop blaming others for your situations. It is very likely that you are in a specific situation because of your actions/decisions.
• Stop giving excuses. They are the biggest single deterrents to logical problem solving.
• If in doubt, if something is the reason for a situation, very likely it is not. Most situations have a very simple and logical explanation. Simple doesn't mean it is easy to identify or accept but it will be definitely be logical.
• Be unemotional when you are doing this introspection. Emotion is like a smoke that clouds our judgment.
• Learn to take full responsibility for your actions. Do realize that it is ok to make errors in judgment as they indeed do provide tremendous learning opportunities.
• If your subordinates or folks within your sphere of influence get into FAR, don't hesitate to correct them.
• Not letting ego come in the way of logical reasoning. Don't try to bully facts into a rationale just to satisfy Mr. Ego.
• Last but not the least, accepting your mistake and saying sorry is a virtue and not a self-defeating proposition.

Hope we can do something FAR? After all, taking anything too far has never been helpful, isn't it?