Not kind of wrong. Not “we see things differently” wrong.
Flat-out, factually, objectively wrong.
Do you still have to listen? Do you still have to “align”?
This is where most people dig in.
When you know you’re right, and the facts are on your side, it feels ridiculous, almost irresponsible, to entertain their perspective.
So you push harder. You stack up logic, dismantle their argument, walk them, step by step, to the only reasonable conclusion.
And yet…
They still don’t budge.
Because here’s what we get wrong about being right:
If logic won arguments, you wouldn’t be having this one.
People don’t accept the truth just because it’s true.
They accept it when it stops feeling like a threat.
When you make them feel like they’re losing, even if you’re right, they’ll hold on even tighter.
So, what do you do?
Do you just let them be wrong? Do you sit there and nod along?
Not at all. But you do something counterintuitive:
You remove the need for them to defend themselves.
Because when you put someone in a position where admitting they’re wrong feels like a loss, they won’t do it.
Instead, you light them a path that doesn’t feel like surrender.
- Instead of “That’s incorrect.” → Try “How did you come to that conclusion?”
- Instead of “The data shows otherwise.” → Try “What would need to be true for that to work?”
- Instead of “You need to change your mind.” → Try “What part of this doesn’t sit right with you?”
Because the moment it feels like a battle, they stop thinking.
But when you give them a door instead of a wall, they might just walk through.
What started as a fight about who is right is now a path to getting it right.
And when that happens?
You don’t have to win the argument.
Because now, there is no argument.
There’s a conversation.
Keep lighting the path.
