I'm Right; You're Wrong. But Why?

I have never been adept at the concepts of Psychology. And yet, as my career progresses more and more of my day tends to be consumed with personnel issues. This includes personality and performance issues and sometimes it means telling someone that they are wrong. Which means this is the point at which one would want to have a comprehensive understanding of the theory and practice of how the human mind works. Then again, there is nothing like trial by fire.

I continue to marvel at the way in which human minds work in the face of a challenge to their own reality. I often have incidents at work in which I have to coach an individual, correct a situation or often just say no. All of these situations implicitly require that I'm right and they are, in some way, wrong.

However, knowledge of a situation and individual actions or motivations is almost by definition inherently unclear, incomplete or even just plain wrong. There is no such thing as perfect knowledge or the 100% right answer. So how can I sit in seeming judgment over another individual and impart my will upon people and situations?

For one, I have been chosen to be a manager at my company. This creates an obligation for me to put the organization's best interest ahead of everything else, including me. Beyond that I have been asked to be a leader. This assumes that my judgment is superior to that of other individuals at my company. It further assumes that I have created, built or understand the goals that the company is striving more and how to get here.

But let's focus on the challenge of questioning a peer or fellow staffer or perhaps even your boss's judgment. I become aware of a situation or decision and say "That's not right." How do I know my judgment is better than theirs? How do I know that I am not the one who is wrong?

I don't think there is any one answer, but I suspect it comes down to this. The very act of examining/re-examining your own motivations, thoughts and decisions will, on balance, mean you will be right more of the time than someone who goes by their gut or sticks blindly to decisions or a vision regardless of the results. This introversion, this self examination of my own deeds, actions and performance is an inherently superior approach in the long run. The mere act of decisive action keyed off blind faith nee zealotry is an insufficient standard of righteousness, even thought in limited circumstances that can be the right choice.