“You’re right; I’m wrong.”
Or maybe, “I’m right; you’re wrong.”
One truth that kept coming up for me across all of 2025 was that extreme and absolute statements like those are almost never accurate. Real truth is often a blend of perspectives, and no one person gets it right.
We humans have this tendency to polarize our views of truth, to distill complex topics into either/or, black-or-white, mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive binary options. Conservative vs. liberal, left vs. right, pro- or anti-whatever the controversial topic is.
In many cases, our position on a particular issue finds its way into our identity; it becomes part of our sense of morality. Those who oppose our beliefs are not merely mistaken; they’re wrong, dangerous, and evil.
Business leaders often find themselves seeing false dichotomies, applying this same binary “right way/wrong way” thinking to business decisions, turning opportunities for creativity and distinction into turf wars and political battles.
If there’s one lesson I want to take away from 2025, it’s that no matter how skilled or knowledgeable I am on a topic or issue, there will always be more that I don’t understand, and the real, whole truth probably can’t be conveyed in any commonly shared position statement.
I hope you’ll join me on this journey toward humility, honesty, and truth.
If you’d like a thinking partner to explore the nuance of truth around a sticky issue, let’s talk. Visit stevedwire.com/talk to start the conversation.
Leave a Reply