I found myself in a meeting today answering questions to the group, not once, but twice - incorrectly. Now, you might say to yourself, "This guy is an egomaniac! Big deal, two wrong questions!" And you would have a point. However, I pride myself on knowing my areas of responsibility better than everyone else. Period.
I don't do it just for the pride of knowing more than others. I do it because I believe that knowing more about the people, systems and processes around me results in me being able to make better decisions. Better knowledge, more facts and experience can only mean better results.
So I was embarrassed, though it was unlikely even a few others noticed. What to do? Allow myself to be corrected gracefully (I hope) and move on. Learn some humility at the same time and be sure to up my game next time around.
What's the point of all this? It's OK to be wrong. It's even more important that we conduct ourselves in a manner that allows people to be free to correct us. We're still all human and we're going to make some mistakes. Learn from it. Allow yourself to fail and LEARN from it. Even when it is a small thing. It will make you stronger. Just because you don't have the facts once or twice does not mean you need to become a part of the tragedy of the uninformed.
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