Why Being Wrong, and Accepting It, is Right

Yesterday I heard Kathryn Schulz speak to a Microsoft audience about her new book, Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margins of Error, a topic that makes people like myself cringe just hearing it. Avoiding being wrong is something I know I work hard at, and hate to really think about, but after some self-talk I made myself sit there and listen.

Being wrong happens, and it's not an isolated or rare occurrence; humans are really good at generating explanations for what's going on around us. Sometimes those explanations are interesting; sometimes we misunderstand the signs in front of our nose; and sometimes explanations are simply unmoored from reality. We don't always know if our explanations are true, yet we more often than not believe they are.

This tells of something about being human: Most of us think we are wrong as little as humanly possible.

Here's what the research shows in terms of who we (humans) think are fallible or infallible in terms of being wrong:

• Fallible: The human species (we know humans can be wrong); other people can be wrong (of course they are); "I" can be wrong (in general we understand this to be true)
• Infallible: "I" can't be wrong today (this is not possible, as I know I am right)

Unfortunately when we are wrong, we are already in trouble though we think we are on solid ground. The disconcerting truth is that humans feel right when they are right, when they think they might be right, and when they are dead wrong. This explains a lot about why arguing often leads nowhere - no one can concede that they are not right in the moment of the argument.

We also think that the way to succeed is to avoid mistakes, to not admit being wrong, and if fact, to not be wrong. And it is our fear of being wrong that actually stunts our growth and ultimately leads to disrespectful or unethical behavior.

Yet most of life is predictable; being right all the time, every day is impossible. Since we can't eliminate our mistakes, we must come to terms and accept them. Innovation and forward growth is about the creation of the "new" - that which is unpredictable, and full of wrong and right turns. Accepting this truth and embracing the possibility of someone else being right or having the better idea ultimately is the most powerful engine of human, and our individual, growth