In a brilliant Pinkcast, author Dan Pink provides some of the most powerful two minutes of content that I have seen in a long while. Pink shares four questions that help people to develop the skill of intellectual humility — the willingness to accept that what you believe may be wrong. These key questions allow you to question your own cognitive blind spots in search of greater understanding.
What I liked about how Pink framed the issue was that he turned “being wrong” into a virtue instead of a failure. He gave intellectual humility a positive spin and linked it to an identity that people would want to take on for themselves.
Atomic Habits author James Clear writes that “the ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your identity. It’s one thing to say I’m the type of person who wants this. It’s something different to say I’m the type of person who is this.”* The Pinkcast video helps people take on the identity of being open-minded, inquisitive, and yes, sometimes wrong.
I’d suggest using this video as a quick but potent way for facilitators to begin group work or for leaders to frame discussions that could prove to be contentious. It can give your team language to aid in constructive conflict with civility – something that every organization can use more of today!
*Atomic Habits by James Clear, 2018, p. 33
