Out There

If it’s not perfect, it’s worthless.

Being quiet is better than being wrong.

Today, a teammate and I spent quite some time talking about the importance of voicing an opinion. It would be fair to say that he subscribes to the above beliefs. He generally doesn’t offer an opinion on matters unless he feels confident that he knows what he’s talking about. Unless he’s fully grasped the concept, he’s unwilling to take the risk of being incorrect.

As I started explaining to him that when learning something new, none of us know all there is to know about something but we just give it a try, he said, “You mean you don’t know what you’re talking about in all those meetings?” I laughed.

I don’t. I really don’t. I have some understanding of what we’re trying to do, I have a good idea of what our goals are but I’m not as familiar with the tools as I’d like to be. None of this, however, is stopping me from trying. I come up with ideas, I present suggestions, I offer my perspective. I’m not saying I make it all up. I have thought about the issue at length, but I don’t know all there is to know about it and I am making certain assumptions that might prove to be incorrect.

I guess it all boils down to the fact that I’m not scared of being wrong. I think it’s much better to have tried and failed than not to have tried at all. I told him it’s like a kid trying to speak in full sentences before he can say the words correctly. If the kid was too scared to say the word incorrectly, he might never learn how to talk. Same goes for walking and most everything else we learn in life.

Sometimes you plunge into the black hole before you can discover the beauties that lie within. I also told him that for every project to become reality, someone has to make the call, the decisions. Often times, the person thinks their idea will work well but they don’t actually know it. If a team member is never willing to make the call cause they’re unsure of the likeliness of success, the project would never conclude. Life is full of uncertainty. It’s not perfect and an amazing number of people don’t know what they’re talking about.

But that’s okay.

You don’t need to know everything to have an opinion. As long as you’re willing to admit the possibility of your being wrong, I don’t think people get penalized for trying. I also think that you need to put yourself out there before you can reap the rewards of an effort. Sitting in your shell and not committing to anything might be comfy and cozy, but it won’t let you progress.

For me, one of the most important things in life is self-progress. So I put myself out there over and over again. I fail, I get hurt, I get mad, I get disappointed. And I pick myself up and do it all over again.

And in those rare times when I succeed, the feeling is beyond words.

What do you think?

Previously? Airplanes and Strangers.