My new main most crush is the sublime Neil deGrasse Tyson.
For more than a month, I’ve been racking my brains trying to figure out how I could get inside that brilliant, sexy mind.
I was absolutely without a doubt getting into his Master Class and squirreling away money to make this dream a reality.
And guess what happened?
I was given a year’s subscription to Masterclass.
Here’s my gigantic takeaway from his course: it is more powerful, life-changing and pivotal to be effective than it is to be right.
It made me think of all the times I ‘ve pushesd to be right and was as effective as shit. In other words, I may or may not have gotten to be right but being effective was definitely not happening.
Every day, I witness this review being played out – folks fighting to be right.
Why is there a need to be right?
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What is the worst thing that could happen because you’re wrong?
Will the world come to an end? Will the earth split open and swallow us whole?
When I was in my teens and twenties being wrong was a death sentence. As a closeted gay guy this makes sense.
One false move and you were dead meat. Being wrong could cause you all kinds of social upheaval and may cost you some serious social standing.
But now, thirty plus years later, an old queen like me ain’t bit more concerned with social acceptance than the man in the moon.
I want to start a movement and let the world know it’s ok not to know shit.
It’s not okay to bask in your stupidity, wallow in your ignorance or brag about your infectious mediocrity.
Being effective in the world means you seek solutions which move projects, ideas, etc, forward. This means there is no time for jockeying and proving your wealth of knowledge. It means you ask legitimate questions.
You seek out experts for their opinions and formulate your own.
In a word, you get curious.
Asking questions instead of making statements is the quickest way to gain knowledge and increase your effectiveness rate.
As long as you know this and are clear about your blindspots then you can move with certainty and a healthy dose of inquisitiveness.
People are so afraid of silence.
Folks should pause and let things swirl around in their heads for a bit before speaking. Chris Rock made a brilliant show of this in his powerful comedy special Bring The Pain. He warns us that not allowing things to marinate for a bit makes us idiots.
I agree.
Many times I’ve received just enough information to formulate then execute a plan.
Later, I discovered had I exercised some patience or asked a question or two things would have turned out vastly diiferent and maybe even been successful.