The courage to be wrong is a defining characteristic of leadership.
In every walk of life, it is the lever that gets us unstuck and moves us forward. It’s not a skill. It’s an attribute of character, and we need it more than ever. The success of individuals, families, organizations and societies depends on it. Let me illustrate:
Jim Joyce and a snatched no-hitter
On June 2, 2010, umpire Jim Joyce snatched a no-hitter from Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga with a bad call. Joyce’s skills failed him, but his character did not. He publicly apologized, met with Galarraga in the locker room, expressed his regret and embraced the tall pitcher, who also comported himself with grace and dignity. Anger and venom were not an appropriate response to Joyce’s mistake. No, this is a leader who demonstrated the courage to be wrong. He is a role model. When our skills fail us, it is no tragedy. When our character fails us, it is tragic indeed.
MTV’s never, never land
MTV recently waded even further into the swamp of indecency when it aired its newest TV series “Skins.” Laced with sex, drugs and bad language, the show straddles the line between pornography and child pornography. Think about that for a minute — as if turning 18 suddenly turns a hideous crime into “a thoughtful and honest portrayal of teen life today,” according to the statement issued by the company. MTV has said it intends to stand by the series. When you have the courage to be wrong, you stop perjuring yourself and pretending that teenage exploitation has redeeming value.
Innovation or sad violins
Professor Clayton Christensen has found that over 90 percent of innovations change in a fundamental way before they are commercially successful. In other words, innovation depends on a leader having the courage to be wrong and shifting the direction of the effort until it finds success. Otherwise, it’s good money after bad and sad violins. As Sir Ken Robinson said at a classic TED conference presentation, “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with something original.” Without the courage to be wrong, innovation and economic development comes to a screeching halt.
Healthy children and a delete key
In her illuminating book, “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success,” Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck makes the distinction between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. People with a growth mindset are more willing to try when they fail and admit when they’re wrong. Those with a fixed mindset constantly try to prove themselves and have a competitive frame of reference. Those with a growth mindset are less likely to look in the social mirror for approval or weigh the opinions of unhelpful people. Fixed mindset people find their value in the perceptions of others, and therefore, can’t afford to be wrong.
Children need a delete key to push, not only for negative feedback that would discourage them, but also for gratuitous praise that would lead them to falsely believe in their own superiority. Both strains are dangerous. If we want children to develop the courage to be wrong, we have to throw out the sentimental slush as well as the harmful criticism. Children need love, and in that context they need to see the unvarnished truth of themselves.
The brainy and brittle
I recently re-read the classic Harvard Business Review article by Chris Argyris, titled, “Teaching Smart People How to Learn.” He writes, “People who rarely experience failure end up not knowing how to deal with it effectively. And this serves to reinforce the normal human tendency to reason defensively.”
His point is that smart people are less capable of honest self-reflection, especially when something goes wrong.
When people get smart, they often get arrogant, and that blocks learning and progress. Success can build a self-destructive immunity to own mistakes. Unless you’re careful to avoid hubris and fawning feedback, you may start to believe that you are a just little extra special. The brainy and brittle search for the truth provided the truth has nice things to say about them.
How we need the courage to be wrong!
Timothy R. Clark, Ph.D., is an author, international management consultant, former two-time CEO, Fulbright Scholar at Oxford University and Academic all-American football player at BYU. His latest two books are "The Leadership Test" and "Epic Change." E-mail: trclark@trclarkpartners