Fallibility: a key to success

Being wrong is the only way to be right.

We’ve all seen the spokespeople who go on TV representing political candidates. You know the types:

I represent Sally. Steve is scum. Sally will cut taxes; Steve will raise taxes — and eat your babies. Did you know Steve wants to take away Social Security benefits and give them to Wall Street big-wigs?

Of course, Sally probably has her flaws, and Steve isn’t scum. He’s has different values, which include no desire to eat babies. And of course, no significant discussion of changes to tax law can take place in sound bites, so nobody has any idea what the truth is on that front. Social Security? Steve actually voted for a bill to give taxpayers the option to invest part of their Social Security payments in stocks or mutual funds. This, of course, does come with some amount risk, and it’s probably possible that a Wall Street big wig could make money off of your losses. Sally’s spokesman, though, felt compelled to misattribute Steve’s motivation, saying he “wants” to “give” your money to those big-wigs.

The point is, these people make for great talking heads on TV, but they’re terrible communicators. They put up a façade of infallibility, operating as if their candidates have never made a mistake or demonstrated even a hint of poor judgment or policy-making regret. Their opponents, on the other hand, hope to see the country handed over to socialists/fascists hell bent on taking all of your money/controlling your life.

But if Sally’s spokesman continually operates if Sally is always right and Steve is always wrong, people quickly start to see that Sally’s spokesman if completely full of bullshit. No one is infallible, and no one should ever feel compelled to try to be.

Thus my premise: Being wrong, occasionally demonstrating human qualities like fallibility and humility, is the only way to ever be right. If you’re never wrong, you’re full of shit. If you’re full of shit, you’re never going to be right. If you admit mistakes, sincerely explain decisions that have been smeared as “flip-flops,” and address dissenters’ concerns by answering to them without trying to convert them, you’ll be seen as a straight shooter.

People like straight shooters.

“Imperfections” courtesy of Rickydavid on Flickr