Alisa Cohn - Why You Can Relish Being Wrong

Relish being wrong. A few years ago, I discovered something that blew my mind. You can't convince people with strong opinions to change their minds. And if you try, they just dig in harder. So I thought I might find that depressing, but actually I found it liberating because it frees you up. You can frame the way to win arguments as learning rather than winning. The more you learn, the more you win. A few months ago, I was talking to my friend Christy about a controversial health topic. The conversation got really heated, and then I thought, "Oh, I could just relish being wrong." So I said, "Christy, maybe I'm wrong. Tell me your point of view." She shared with me all the research she had done on this topic, and then she opened up and she shared about her fears and concerns. I just listened. At the end of the conversation, I learned more about the topic and more importantly about my friend Christy. I learned about where she was really coming from on the inside, and we got closer. I didn't convince her, but we laid the groundwork for having better conversations in the future.