If someone told you that one of your biggest mistakes, personally or professionally, was in fact a good thing, would you believe them?
Before you hit “play” on this TED talk, think about what it means to be wrong. This includes feelings of embarrassment, frustration, and inadequacy that happen once you’ve made a mistake. All of these experiences work against Kathryn Schulz’s message, and yet somehow she is able to change our minds in a little over seventeen minutes.
“Wrongologist” Schulz miraculously mends a lifetime of feeling terrible from our own mistakes, however big or small. How does she accomplish this? After you watch the presentation, we’ll dive into a list of reasons we believe that this presentation pushes beyond our preexisting ideas and inspires its audience.
Start with the storytelling
How do you convince an audience that being wrong might actually be the key to innovation, survival, and the rediscovery of wonder? Schulz uses a total of six different stories in order to illustrate her point, which is about a story every three minutes. A very personal, human topic requires anecdotal rather than data-based evidence to create a connection in the audience. The stories are also varied enough to help you understand how feeling correct is perhaps worse than making a mistake, and how mistakes can often lead to much better outcomes.
Keeping that in mind, the stories within the talk can be divided into two categories:
Stories with humor
When Schulz describes her picnic sign confusion, the Looney Toons analogy, and even the lighthearted tale of This American Life, she spins mistakes in a more positive light through humor. Where would the NPR show be if they never experienced “something else happening instead”? What if everything went blandly as planned, hitting every mark? Adding levity to the things that we consider to be incorrect gives audiences a new way to frame their own mistakes.
Stories with horror
On the other side of the coin, Schulz gives us some horrifying examples of what happens when we are powered by the confidence of being correct. The tale of the woman who was operated on the wrong side of her body because “For whatever reason, the surgeon simply felt that he was on the correct side of the patient” is a clear, terrifying image of someone who believed too firmly in their internal “rightness.” The same is true in the collection of tales at the end that tie together the political dictator in Egypt and even George Bush’s invasion of Iraq; unexpected things to happen, especially if we feel confident that only one scenario is possible.
The end result? This TED talk makes audiences feel great. It gives us a fresh perspective, which is impressive considering the subject matter, our own bias, and the length of the speech. All of these elements make “On Being Wrong” one of the most unexpectedly inspirational talks we’ve ever seen.
Want a hand-picked tour of TED’s best? Check out these articles:
A Deeper Dive into Eddie Obeng’s “Smart Failure for a Fast-Changing World”
6 TED Talks To Help You Succeed At Work And Life
5 Lessons from Adam Grant’s TED Talk
