Let’s get this out there first: I love being right.
I think this is generally true for most people, but something about my intensely competitive nature — and the fact that I think things through pretty well before I make up my mind — seems to amplify this feeling even more.
There’s nothing wrong with being right. Making “correct” decisions can help people, help organizations, and help the world.
But at the end of the day, doesn’t an obsessive need to be right all the time come in direct conflict with being open to new things?
Fundamentally, if I believe I already have the end-all-be-all “gospel truth,” it also means I’ve closed my mind to other options. I’m no longer open to hearing other perspectives or seeing from someone else’s point of view.
Maybe we can only be “right” until we learn something new.
We make the best decisions we can with the information we have, but then we learn something we didn’t know before — something that upsets our apple cart, shifts our paradigm. Suddenly, we aren’t “right” anymore.
Perhaps that’s the more important part of this: being committed to always learning new things, being open to change, and available for growth.
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What’s 3 Trillion? by Josh Allan Dykstra on February 4th, 2008
The Educated & Scholarly by Josh Allan Dykstra on August 20th, 2007
The Rich Young Me by Josh Allan Dykstra on January 29th, 2008
Copyright © 2005-2012 Josh Allan Dykstra
2 Comments
Jen Gresham
Certainly true for me, Josh. One of the things I love about being a scientist is that I hold every belief up for re-examination from time to time. Even more exciting than being right is discovering something you never knew before.
Nice post!
16 Jul 2010 08:07 am (@JenGresham)
Josh Allan Dykstra
Hey Jen! Absolutely, I love that about science.
I think there’s something about this idea — continual improvement/growth — that also applies to organizational structures. Is there a way to “weave in” this kind of ethos into a company? Tech companies seem to do this pretty well; love to see it catch on everywhere. Think it could do everyone a lot of good!
18 Jul 2010 12:07 pm (@joshallan)
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