In response to that, you might be inclined to say, “You sound very certain of that Paul…..really?” OR “What planet are you on today?” And, actually, I’m not certain about it all. In fact, I’m becoming increasingly uncertain about most things…..and that’s a good thing…..for many of us in professional life. Here’s why.
One of the quotes that Elon Musk is less well know for is as follows:
“I take the position that I’m always to some degree wrong, and my aspiration is to be less wrong.”
I like this quote because it goes against the grain of what most of us are trained to do in school and when we join the world of work….to have an answer quickly and to be pretty certain that our answer is the right one for the situation we are facing. And as we get more senior in the workplace, we’re expected to have even more answers and we feel pressure that they should be the ‘right’ ones…..even when we’re facing very complex problems.
In fact, we can find ourselves actively discouraging people who disagree with us and turning a blind eye to information and ideas that run counter to how we’ve chosen to see the world. And blind eyes lead to blind spots in teams and organisations, which for senior leaders can be a big problem.
Simply using more ‘spacious’ and less ‘certain’ language can be very effective in keeping ourselves open to ideas and different perspectives:
- It seems to me that…….
- What do you think about that?
- What could be going on here is……
- How does that sound?
- Is this all making sense to you?
It’s tempting to make judgements and to rush to answers quickly, particularly when we’ve got lots going-on. It’s also a boost for our ego to think that we’re right. But right and wrong judgements often deliver overly simplistic solutions when we’re dealing with complex problems…..like saving the world….or Twitter. Ask Mr Musk.