Jeff Bezos Says This Is the Most Important Quality for Success. In 2023, Scientists Finally Figured Out How to Teach Intellectual humility.

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Jeff Bezos Says This Is the Most Important Quality for Success. In 2023, Scientists Finally Figured Out How to Teach ItIntellectual humility.

By Jessica Stillman | Inc Magazine | December 27, 2023

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Just recently, Jeff Bezos went on Lex Fridman’s popular podcast and announced to the world that he doesn’t like compromise. “An example of a really bad way of coming to an agreement is compromise,” he told the host.  Is this just because Bezos is an iron-willed tech titan? Maybe, in part. But as the Amazon founder went on to explain, his main motivation was a desire for truth over social niceties.  

Why Jeff Bezos keeps talking about intellectual humility.  “We’re in a room here and I could say, ‘Lex, how tall do you think this ceiling is?’ And you could say ‘I don’t know Jeff, maybe 12 feet tall.’ And I would say, ‘I think it’s 11 feet tall,’ and we would say, ‘Let’s just call it 11 and a half feet.’ That’s compromise,” Bezos continued. Instead, the right thing to do, he feels, “is get a tape measure and figure out some way of actually measuring it.”  This is far from the first time Bezos has publicly said he prefers getting the right answer to soothing egos. Speaking at startup Basecamp a few years ago, he explained that the quality he most looks for in hires is past mistakes and willingness to talk through them. 

Research shows intellectual humility helps us learn faster, reason more logically, be more curious, and even empathize more with others even when they think differently than us. All of which, experienced entrepreneurs will note, are great characteristics for a successful business leader.  

So if intellectual humility will help you get ahead, how do you learn it?  Whether we looked at middle schoolers or adults, the same set of basic interventions helped nudge people to stop clinging to their beliefs and open their minds.  These steps include reflecting on your values before engaging in any intellectual endeavor (including a workplace debate), experiencing awe (feeling small in the face of our grand and terrible universe seems to pry people away from their egos a little), and focusing on effort and growth more than innate ability or final performance (aka having “a growth mindset”). 

3 key takeaways from the article

1. Bezos has publicly said he prefers getting the right answer to soothing egos. Speaking at startup Basecamp a few years ago, he explained that the quality he most looks for in hires is past mistakes and willingness to talk through them. Jeff Bezos keeps talking about intellectual humility.
2. Research shows intellectual humility helps us learn faster, reason more logically, be more curious, and even empathize more with others even when they think differently than us. All of which are great characteristics for a successful business leader.  
3. How do you learn intellectual humility?  Some of the steps include reflecting on your values before engaging in any intellectual endeavor (including a workplace debate), experiencing awe (feeling small in the face of our grand and terrible universe seems to pry people away from their egos a little), and focusing on effort and growth more than innate ability or final performance (aka having “a growth mindset”). 

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Topics:  Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Creativity, Humility