Being right makes our egos feel good. When you are proven right, a rush of endorphins comes in to make you love the feeling. The world suddenly thinks you are the best. You think you are the best.
The problem with being right is that it means someone else is wrong. Right and wrong is zero sum – someone has to win and someone has to lose. Within a team, competition can be a good thing but too much competition, or competition that gets out of hand, becomes a detriment. At the end of the day, teams win or lose together regardless of the skills of any individual.
At the end of the day, being right can lead to a lot of bad outcomes.
- Toxic culture
- Incomplete outcomes
- Answering the wrong problem
- Narrow solution
- Focusing on the past instead of moving forward
Being right can win a small skirmish but it can never win the war.