Being Wrong: The New Smart?
For many years I believed the smartest person in a room full of people was the one who knew the most. I was smart enough to know that usually wasn’t me. I now wonder if that way of thinking is deeply flawed.
As years have scrolled by, have you noticed some people you once considered particularly smart began saying things that confounded you? They no longer sounded so smart? Why?
I’ve found that some of the things smart people say are the same things they’ve always said — even when the data and knowledge base has changed. The new information is not being integrated in an intellectually honest way and gets quickly dismissed when it challenges their previous, closely held views.
I’ve observed spectacular mental gymnastics in order to refute new evidence in ways that seemed anything but “smart,” often appearing more keen on preserving their standing of “still being right,” than accept the possibility that being right might require some honest rethinking and adjustment.
I recently stumbled upon Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know, a must-read book by Wharton professor and organizational psychologist, Adam Grant, which unpacks the behavioral science behind this human tendency. Ironically, research shows that fresh thinking is hardest for the smartest. In one example, Grant unpacks research that seems…
