“Where so many hours have been spent in convincing myself that I am right, is there not some reason to fear I may be wrong?”
– Jane Austen, courtesy of my friend Barb Woods, Founder of Crystal Clear Communications
Shakespeare had an interesting take on this thought, too… “Methinks thou dost protest too much…”
Being wrong doesn’t mean you’re dopey. It means you’re wrong. And, while Ron White cautioned that we “can’t fix stupid,” we can almost always fix “wrong.” What we can’t fix is standing still.
Given a choice between deciding and being wrong, or standing still and being neither right nor wrong, I’ll take the path of action. I understand that sometimes being wrong comes with a cost, and sometimes that cost is great. I also understand that correcting course is easier for some than others. I understand that sometimes pride is a powerful motivator or impediment.
Complicating the whole thing is that strong teams will have a wide array of opinions on many decisions. If we’re not careful, it can make it too easy to lapse in to paralysis by analysis.
If we’re charged with leadership responsibility, we ought to listen to those around us, and then we ought to decide. And, whatever we are about to decide, if we’re having to work too hard to decide it, maybe the other decision is just simply better.
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