Hey,
Have you ever ignored your satnav because you were absolutely convinced you knew a better way?
My personal favourite moment was in Costa Rica.
My partner and I were driving around in a rental car when we spotted another car heading down what looked like a gravel road.
We had a 4x4. The road looked like a shortcut. What could possibly go wrong?
Quite a lot, as it turns out.
The road got steeper, narrower, bumpier and rockier.
Until we reached a point where we couldn't turn around, and the car was barely moving.
Then a little Costa Rican girl came out of her house, pointed at us and shouted:
"GRINGOS! GRINGOS"
Her entire extended family appeared and helped push our car down the hill until we eventually made it back onto a proper road.
Mortifying. 😂
We were fairly sure we weren't the first idiots to attempt that particular shortcut.
But then I looked at the satnav.
Recalculating route.
That was it.
No "I told you so."
No "Well, you didn't have to agree to drive down there."
No extended discussion about whose fault it was.
Just recalculating.
And I remember thinking, wouldn't it be great if we were all a little more like that satnav?
Oh, and when we finally arrived at our hotel, this was waiting for us in the pool. Apparently, we weren't the only ones whose plans had gone badly that day🦄
The curious business of being wrong
Of course, satnavs have a massive advantage over us.
No ego. No reputation to protect. No team, clients or investors waiting for it to make the right call.
Nothing to lose, and nothing to prove.
The rest of us have rather more riding on our decisions.
And I think that's partly why we can get so attached to being right.
We've invested time, energy, money and probably a good chunk of our credibility into a particular direction.
So when new information comes along, changing our minds can feel remarkably uncomfortable.
Even when the road ahead is getting narrower and rockier by the minute.
Something I've been experimenting with is asking a slightly different question when I have a big decision to make.
Instead of "What's the right answer?"
I try asking "I wonder how I could find out?"
It takes some of the pressure off.
Suddenly I don't need to figure out the entire route before setting off.
And if I discover I've got it wrong?
Well, that's useful information.
Time to recalculate.
Your one bold move:
Less overthinking, more recalculating.
Think of a decision you've been putting off because you're not quite sure what to do.
Instead of trying to figure out the right answer, ask yourself:
"What's one small thing I could do this week to find out?"
A conversation. A small action. A little experiment, perhaps?
You might discover you were right all along.
Or you might discover you're heading down a road that looks suspiciously like our Costa Rican shortcut.
Either way, you'll know a little more than you did before.
Happy experimenting!
Amale
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