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Hanlon’s Razor

In yesterday’s link roundup post I linked to an article about communication strategies within a geographically disparate team that made mention of Hanlon’s Razor.

I’ve known my boss’ boss’ boss to express this in different words:

“Nobody gets out of bed and comes into work in the morning just to screw you over.”

It’s good to know that there’s a name for this concept I can reference, and also an alternative wording I can use to make it appropriate for all audiences:

“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by ignorance.”

Wikipedia also teaches me that Sir Bernard Ingham coined an even more succinct version:

Cock-Up Before Conspiracy.”

Hanlon’s Razor

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