(Source: https://threader.app/thread/1462199139366686722)
Try to describe a bicycle in words (no pictures but mathematical formulas allowed!), with the intent to communicate what a bicycle is to an imaginary person who has never seen one. It is far better to simply show a bicycle. The thing is simpler than its description! Formal description of the concept of a bicycle is harder for the human mind to grasp than a real bicycle.
All too often, the education system and by extension the business world place too great an emphasis on formal descriptions. I call it the “formalist trap”. Imagine evaluating cooks based on formal descriptions of recipes instead of on how the food tastes. Unfortunately that happens all too often in the business world. The formalist trap is seductive and we end up valuing the articulate and verbose over the competent.
The formalist trap also seduces us into thinking we are “meritocratic” and our systems end up devaluing people who could get the job done but cannot pass a formal written test. Tests measure test taking skills! The formalist trap is why I oppose exams like NEET. A cook or a programmer or a plumber or a surgeon or a mechanical engineer need real skills. The ability to fluently describe something is not equivalent to doing the thing!Interviews measure interviewing skills! Be aware of the formalist trap. 🙏