Friday Forward - Flip Flopper (#526)
While leaders fear reversing course will undermine their credibility, humility paired with thoughtful reasoning often inspires confidence
A friend and I were recently discussing a politician who constantly seems to be changing their viewpoint for political expedience. The politician will remain nameless, though there are plenty to choose from.
In politics, we often label these people flip-floppers and assume the worst about them. Flip-flopping conjures the image of someone constantly changing their views depending on who they’re talking to or what the latest polling tells them.
It’s understandable to distrust flip-floppers. We often value clarity and consistency from our leaders, and flip-flopping is quite the opposite.
With that said, it’s also a bad sign when leaders never change their opinion, regardless of how underlying facts change. Generally, what matters most is not whether the person changed their mind, but why they did.
Flip-flopping is a reactive response to optics or pressure. At their core, most flip-floppers are trying to secure support or acceptance from the most people possible, or simply following the crowd, rather than trying to find the truth and stand by it.
In contrast, an admirable viewpoint change is rooted in evolution or deeper understanding. We actually should change our position when new facts emerge, a new experience changes our perspective, or research deepens our understanding. There’s no honor in sticking to a position that has been proven wrong.
We often punish flip-flopping in politics, understanding that too many of our politicians don’t ground their views in consistent values. But in other areas of life, the ability to change or evolve our viewpoints is considered essential to success.
In business, great leaders and companies celebrate adaptability. We tell our teams to be data-driven, to test assumptions, and to adjust when new evidence appears.
The scientific method also encourages this ability to change. Scientists form hypotheses and either accept or reject them based on gathered evidence. No one accuses a scientist of flip-flopping when they toss out a conclusion based on updated research. In fact, doing this is considered progress.
I’ll make a bold claim that we should apply this same standard on flip-flopping to all areas of life.
While leaders often fear reversing course will undermine their reputation for being confident and decisive, humility paired with thoughtful reasoning often inspires confidence. People want to follow leaders who aren’t afraid to change their mind when values and evidence necessitate it. No one wants to follow a leader who projects certainty as they walk off a moral cliff, or an actual one.
Likewise, we should bring this same humility to our personal lives.
Think about the views you’ve held for most of your adult life; these could be opinions on work, relationships, success, etc. If you haven’t revised at least a few of those beliefs, I would be pretty skeptical of your thought process.
At the same time, don’t let every loud opinion rattle your compass. Everyone has an opinion, and social media amplifies the confidently incorrect ones. Don’t give into the temptation to overcorrect and change in response to either criticism or applause.
Here is a good two-point test to help differentiate good and bad flip-flopping:
Values: When the person changes their stance, are they also changing their core values? Changing a viewpoint but keeping your values intact is often a sign of growth. Changing values based on the situation or audience suggests lack of principles.
Transparency: Does the person explain their stance change by owning their previous opinion and explaining the evidence that prompted the change? If they try to pretend that they never held the prior view at all, that indicates insincerity.
After applying this lens, I still think the politician I discussed with my friend is the wrong kind of flip-flopper. But the next time you’re tempted to dismiss someone who changes their stance frequently, you should pause and ask a better question. Do they abandon their principles, or did they simply adapt to new, irrefutable information?
And maybe we should ask or apply the same threshold to ourselves.
Changing your mind, when done thoughtfully and transparently, is not a betrayal of conviction. It’s often a sign of maturity.
Quote of the Week
“When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?” – John Maynard Keynes
Have a great weekend!
-Bob
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It takes courage, privately and publicly, to change our conclusions and communication. It's a strength when it's based on a cognitive "update" from new, credible research or information.