Over the past few months, i’ve been reflecting on something that keeps appearing at work, particularly in the way we build, improve, develop and ship features. There’s a noticeable pattern where discussion often skip past the why (as part of the fundamental reasoning, intent, or problem framing behind a feature) and we just go straight away into execution. Even there’s a “why” that actually written in the ticket, is just for contextual action rather than understanding action
On the bigger picture, this may seem efficient/effective since we’re in a fast-paced and competitive environment. But i started to question to myself: what are we losing when we stop asking why thoroughly? What are we afraid of if we just take a moment of reflection instead of the sake of “ship first, improve it later”? or, is it this just a team habit or part of something much broader than that?
The more i give a thought about it, the more i see this as a part of something broader and perhaps it’s intersect with: social disparity, education and critical thinking
I came across a sociological argument stating that social disparity often becomes normalized within communities themselves, where individuals interpret structural issues as personal problems. This aligns with what Bourdieu concept about symbolic violence, a process where inequalities are internalized and reproduced unconsciously by those affected.
In our work context, this shows up when people tend to have shifting blame or when we frame productivity as an individual failure rather than questioning the systemic conditions (nearly impossible and tight deadlines, lack of clarity, lack of transparency, market pressure, frequent changes of company regulations and so on) that shape our actions
I also barely remembered this “social construct phenomenon” is could tied to depoliticization, particularly relevant in Indonesian history. Following political shifts in the late 1970s and into the new order regime, there was a deliberate move to suppress political thinking and critique within the education system. It was stated instead of nurturing critical thought or paradigm shift, higher education became a tool for stability, order, and productivity
While i’m not saying this is a bad thing, to better understand this, i have a chance to read Freire’s foundational work, where he outlined how education can either domesticate or liberate, and at least it has 3 distinguishes of roles:
- Education as social reproduction. Education can reinforce existing social hierarchies by privileging certain kinds of knowledge, language, and cultural behavior. Something that we would call cultural capital. For many of us, we were taught to comply, not to question, to memorize, not to reflect, to achieve something higher and so on
- Education as social control. Incorporate from Althusser’s theory of ideological state apparatuses, Freire has noted how schools discipline individuals to accept authority and routine. In work culture, this translates into obedience to process without critical engagement such as: an overemphasis on PKRs, deadlines without revisiting purpose, and such
- Education for liberation. Freire advocates for a “problem posing education” where learners and teachers investigate reality and ask: “Why are things this way? Must they stay this way?”, this kind of thinking fosters critical consciousness, empowering people to act with action, not just follow with the rules
And let’s go back to the main topic, how come all of this relates to our work? In our workplace, the lack of a “why” question often stems from a culture shaped by:
- The imperative to deliver quickly, it might be rooted in market competition
- The social disparity from our educational condition, which trained us to follow, not question
- The internalization of pressure, and so on
And i don’t think this is not a personal flaw, it’s deeply rooted from system that we’ve inherited from long ago. And it was a collective problems. That being said, all of us work under constraints such as market demands, limited time, tight deadlines, personal objectives and so on. But perhaps the act of asking why or have a moment of reflection even quietly, even briefly, it’s a form of regain our work.
Perhaps i would go too far when saying this: that we’re not just outputs. We are human being navigating systems, histories, and pressures. And in the very act of reflecting, we may begin to move toward something more intentional and more meaningful