Bad intentions, good results?

Opinions subject to change based on new data, perspectives, expanding worldview, etc. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being highly unlikely and 10 being highly likely on how often this opinion will change: 1/10

There are a lot of scenarios in this world where I find that some people with bad intentions somehow have good results. I also find that there are a lot of scenarios in this world where I find that some people have good intentions have bad results.

This is in the context where the results are supposed to improve a situation. The results are judged “good” or “bad” based on what was the desired outcome before the action was taken. If the desired outcome happened, then it’s a good result, otherwise it’s a bad result.

Here are the rankings of this “intention” and “results” 2x2 matrix on what I support:

1. Good intentions, good results
   • Continue doing as is
   • See what can be changed to make it better
2. Bad intentions, good results
   • Continue doing as is
   • See what can be changed to make it better
3. Good intentions, bad results
   • See what can be changed to make it better
   • Continue doing as is
4. Bad intentions, bad results
   • See what can be changed to make it better
   • Continue doing as is

The paraphrase “the ends justify the means” by Niccolò Machiavelli falls to the #2 choice for me. My #1 choice would be I’d rather people who want to do good things get the good outcome.

The question for you to think about is:

• If a person has bad intentions, but for some reason, it leads to good results, do you accept it? And if they continually have bad intentions, but it keeps leading to good results, what happens?
• If a person has good intentions, but for some reason, it leads to bad results, do you continue supporting it? And if they continually have good intentions, but it keeps leading to bad results, what happens?
• Which one would you rather choose to support?
• Replace the “person” with anything, such as policy, leadership, regulations, etc.

Some ideas to make sure you don’t go down the path of “good intentions, bad results”:

• Chesterton’s Fence: “Do not remove a fence until you know why it was put up in the first place.”
• Scientific method

“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool.” - Richard Feynman