Facts and opinions
Trashcan Sinatras are the most underrated band ever. Formed in Irvine, Scotland in 1986, the band have had 5 studio albums over the past 40 years, including their critically acclaimed first album ‘Cake’.
I bought their first single for £0.50 from Our Price Music in St. Helens after finishing work stacking shelves and I still remember it to this day! I loved the song (see below) so much that I was immediately hooked.
Their songs are both lyrically and musically brilliant and despite never achieving the success that they deserve and having overcome some really difficult times, they continue to perform, particularly in North America where they have a strong following.
My love for the band runs deep. When my wife and I started a coffee shop in Wellington, New Zealand, we chose one of the band’s lyrics as our name and I even painted their lyrics on the wall!
However, it’s very difficult for me to prove that they actually are the most underrated band. Where or how would you even begin to start measuring this?! Therefore, it’s just an opinion of mine, rather than a fact. It’s a feeling driven by a (very obvious!) passion.
When it comes to music, by most sales metrics, The Beatles are considered the most successful band of all time, just as Michael Jackson and Madonna top the charts for male and female artists respectively. Whilst the exact figures vary depending on methodology, these rankings are broadly supported by audited sales data, making their popularity more than just opinion.
Facts are independently verifiable, whilst opinions - like my assertion of the most underrated band - are subjective judgements based on experience, knowledge or taste.
You could argue that Metallica - in your opinion - are the most successful band of all time, but by audited sales figures, they're not. However, they are factually the most successful heavy metal band of all time.
So what’s my point here? Other than trying to create more Traschan Sinatras fans? 😂
It’s that facts and opinions are confused all the time, and this confusion often leads to workplace conflict. People take opposing sides of an argument, each claiming the other is wrong whilst they are right, without ever establishing whether they're arguing about facts or opinions.
For clarification: your opinion is simply your subjective view. However, if someone can demonstrate that your opinion is logically flawed, internally inconsistent, or based on false premises, then your reasoning - not the opinion itself - is faulty. Similarly, if facts directly contradict a claim you're making, you're no longer expressing an opinion; you're stating something incorrect.
This distinction plays out constantly in workplace decisions. When searching for solutions to problems with no established ‘right’ way of solving them (i.e. provable by research or experience), great managers will seek opinions from their team. Each person presents their view on the best solution, and the manager then chooses a way forward. Just because you've presented an opinion doesn't mean it will be selected, regardless of whether you believe your idea is better than the one chosen!
Intentionally designed workplace culture is a significant determining factor in organisational and team success and failure. I can't tell you categorically that it's the only factor, as this goes beyond what the evidence typically supports.
However, the evidence base is substantial. Research from Google's Project Aristotle, Gallup's engagement studies, and MIT's work on toxic culture all demonstrate measurable impacts on performance, retention and profitability.
In my own consulting work, I've documented specific teams improving engagement by 30% and sales by 50% following intentional culture interventions; as well as measurable changes in employee happiness, productivity metrics, and staff retention.
Yet some leaders still choose to ignore this evidence. Not necessarily because they're incompetent, but because acting on it feels more difficult than their preferred alternatives.
Restructuring, operating model changes, process redesign or implementing new technology systems feels concrete and manageable. Addressing culture - which requires examining behaviours, relationships, and uncomfortable truths - feels ambiguous and demanding.
This matters because when leaders mistake opinion for fact (or dismiss facts in favour of comfortable opinions) they make decisions that fail their teams.
The evidence on workplace culture's impact exists. Whether leaders choose to act on it or remain guided by untested assumptions is what separates high-performing organisations from the rest.
