Strong Ideas, Loosely Held

As we sailor dive into the 2016 campaign, a familiar theme is resurrecting its ugly head: voters spewing venom at politicians who change their mind. This dynamic — “you said something once, so you must believe it forever!”— is harmful and counterproductive. After all, do voters really want a president who cannot — or will not — change his/her mind?

This approach incentivizes intellectual rigidity and extremism.

In my experience, the best leaders are roundly non-purist — they make better decisions after receiving better information. Entrepreneurs do this well.

Startups never end where they start. This is a good thing. Startup founders should listen and learn. They should incorporate feedback, iterate when possible, and change direction when necessary.

Intellectual flexibility is paramount. With it, you have a fighting chance. Without it, you’re doomed.

The best startup founders have strong ideas, loosely held.

Jeff Bezos is one of those leaders. Instead of punishing non-confirmists, Bezos thinks we should celebrate people who change their mind:

He said people who were right a lot of the time were people who often changed their minds. He doesn’t think consistency of thought is a particularly positive trait. It’s perfectly healthy — encouraged, even — to have an idea tomorrow that contradicted your idea today.

He’s observed that the smartest people are constantly revising their understanding, reconsidering a problem they thought they’d already solved. They’re open to new points of view, new information, new ideas, contradictions, and challenges to their own way of thinking.

The political process is so poisonous because it is unlike anything we experience day-to-day — blind ignorance is cheered; lessons are unlearned and disregarded; animal instincts defeat rational analysis; and the resident bully is rewarded. This is not accidental. It is intentional. Entire campaigns are predicated on social chaos.

The consequence — rigid ideologues rewarded for maximalist positions — is bad for our country and its social fabric.

I’d like to see more entrepreneurs become politicians. It is, of course, a chicken-and-egg situation: things that are rewarded in politics are (appropriately) non-starters in the startup space. But the only way to get ourselves out of this predicament is to have more people with strong ideas, loosely held.