BWW Blog: Micah Young - Right On

What would you do if failure was an option? What would you think if you didn't need to be right? I wouldn't suggest leaping off a cliff without a parachute, but I think there is pressure in all fields, to be right and to be successful. And who doesn't want to be successful? More money, more power, more opportunities. But when we are creating, or even having a discussion, being able to simply say, "I don't know" has a stigma attached to it.

We do not have to always be right. It's tough; in the performing arts, we want to have answers. We need to have answers for the producers, the directors, to the actors; and they feel they need to have answers as well. And if we don't, we run the risk of appearing incompetent, or being written off by collaborators. At least that is the fear.

Thinking that we do not have to be right all the time can be liberating. It releases the pressure of always needing to have an answer. I find it also frees the mind to consider the possibilities. What if you're wrong about something, but are so convinced you are right (all the time)? How do we learn, how do we allow new information that might change the way we think about an issue, if we are convinced we are already right about something?

This is not to suggest lower standards of learning, or blithely claiming ignorance with pride. This stems from working in theatre, and with artists who are constantly asked to dig deeper, rewrite, rework, getting at the heart of a song or a scene. And when we are corrected, or given an adjustment, the need to be right conflicts with the new information. But in all aspects of life, I think by not assuming we are right all the time, actually opens us to the possibility of learning.

Photo Credit: Mihail Ribkin