You must take a stance—not the stubborn kind the ego hides behind, but one you’re willing to test.
State your view. Act on your conviction. Then let reality decide. If the evidence shows you were wrong, you have two options.
You can defend your mistake to the bitter end so you don’t lose face, or you can admit that the theory didn’t stand up to the test. This is where the difference between a vain person and a serious person becomes clear.
The goal isn’t always to be right. The goal is to arrive at what is correct, and that’s rarely achieved on the first try.
An idea may be rough around the edges at first. Disorganized. Unfinished. Unglamorous. That’s why an idea isn’t idolized. An idea is tested. Revised. Modified. Repeated. A failure can provide us with useful information if we examine what happened and why.
After reviewing, we decide what to keep, what to change, and what is no longer worth trying in the same way. In this way, our position remains a basis for our work, rather than an obligation to defend every decision we make.
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