Being Wrong is right

I read one of Nancy Kline’s ‘Fine Points’ that she sends out to the Global Thinking Environment Faculty around being wrong.  I love these missives from Nancy, she really makes us think.  And here’s my thinking around being wrong.

She says that we strive to always be right. Society demands that.  Wouldn’t it be great, she ponders, if we accepted that humans get things wrong most of the time and rather than be right, strive to get things a little less wrong.

That led me to wonder about ‘being perfect’.  A lot of women who come to me with low confidence arises because they ‘have to be perfect’.  They’re always striving to be the best, to do the best, to meet an impossibly high demand made of themselves.  Usually because that’s the mantra that’s been drummed into them with parents who are never satisfied with what their children have achieved.

​Being Perfect
What then would happen if instead of demanding perfection, they demanded of themselves, less wrong.  Would that shift the mindset? Would that take the pressure off?  Would that open new avenues of exploration and by doing so, allow more creativity, more excitement – more confidence?

In a Thinking Partnership we allow our brains to explore issues like this knowing that our Partner is paying attention, giving us space to explore, to allow the thought that all our thoughts are as good as the ones that have come before, or after.  Perfection becomes a non-sequitur. There is no competition.

In a Thinking Environment we can continue the theme of allowing ideas to flow.  On scrutiny a particular idea – a new product or service – might not pass muster and that’s OK because we don’t have perfection as our target.  Our target is to be a little less wrong. We accept scrutiny, we accept difference.  And in a small group the team can explore the ideas; experiment so that it gets a little less wrong each iteration until it does pass muster.

So when you’re recruiting why not seek out those who are happy to not be perfect, to enjoy the journey of discovery and be a little less wrong each time for through this you’ll discover innovation.