We may have been trained not to answer back to our parents, teachers or old persons when we are young. We are told to keep quiet and just accept what is happening. Yes, it may be true in some sense but not in all circumstances.
As I grow older, I realized that speaking for ourselves or speaking our minds is an important skill to navigate career and life. Life outside the comfort of our rooms is never been easy. We need to handle on a daily basis various situations such as customer complaints, accounting and tax issues, uncooperative or disrespectful people, a bad mark from a boss, difficult or dysfunctional process in place, etc.
When we speak our minds, we may be able to remind other people something that they already know but may have been neglected. Typical example is respecting time. When parties agreed to meet or call in point in time, each party is obliged to inform in advance if one cannot meet the agreement. If impossible to do, at least apologize and inform afterwards. Other example is to say "No" to other people. We live in a culture that saying "No" is very uncomfortable and may cause bad feelings towards others. That may be true but saying "No" in a respectful way spares time and resources for both side. I will no longer wait for your response or expect something from you and so I need to move on and tap other people or change my idea or approach and you can sleep soundly knowing you are able to respond "No" gracefully.
Speaking a new idea to your boss to treat a dysfunctional process may be a way for your office to minimize errors and overtime. Speaking about your difficulty may release you from the prison to the freedom of productivity and effectiveness. Speaking may trigger reflection to others in the way they behave. Speaking may spark a fresh idea to others to start something meaningful in themselves.
Speaking our minds may be risky as well. Usually, it is seen as something too brave for us to do. People may see you as inconsiderate or rebellious or strict. I think, there is always a line to draw this. What we need to understand is the healthy way to speak our minds that wins both sides. How to draw the line? We may need to ask ourselves before we speak -- "Why do I need to speak up?", "Who will benefit from my speech?", "Will silence on the matter bring some sort of danger?"
We can actually be silent of our disappointments or frustrations to events or other people. However, if we find that speaking our minds will provide meaningful value to the person and to other people, it is always worth to speak our minds. We just need to assess the right context, timing, person, medium and reason why we want to do so.
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