The Power of Usefully Wrong

Lessons from Coding and Tennis

Have you ever considered that being wrong could actually be a path to success? In this article, I'll share two recent experiences that highlight the surprising value of deliberate errors in problem-solving and skill development.

Created with ChatGPT using the prompt “draw something about making deliberate errors to have better outcomes” Yes I noticed the misspelling too. Which I thought was on topic

The Synchronicity of Wrong Answers

I'm a big believer in synchronicity, and when two related incidents occurred on the same day, I knew I had to write about it. These experiences, one from my computer science studies and another from my tennis lessons, both underscore a powerful strategy: the art of being usefully wrong.

Incident 1: Prototyping with Wrong Answers in Coding

As part of my master's program in Artificial Intelligence, I recently shared a problem-solving strategy in my Python class forum. I call it "Prototyping with Wrong Answers." Here's how it works:

1. Identify the problem: You have an output that's missing something.

2. Overcorrect: Add too much of what's missing in the simplest way possible.

3. Analyze: Now you have two wrong answers on opposite sides of the correct solution.

4. Iterate: Adjust incrementally, moving closer to the right answer with each attempt.

This strategy, sometimes called "hill climbing" in computer science, helps in two ways:

• It develops intuition about the problem and solution space.

• It provides a sense of progress, boosting motivation.

The key is to embrace being wrong as a stepping stone to being right. By exploring multiple incorrect prototypes, you're mapping out the terrain of your problem, making it easier to find the optimal solution.

Incident 2: Aiming Off in Tennis

Later that same day, during my tennis lesson, my coach gave me an instruction that initially puzzled me:

Coach: "Aim your backhand to the rightmost cone."

Me: "Should I aim my forehand to the leftmost cone then?"

Coach: "No, just your backhand to the right. It'll make your shots more accurate."

After a moment of confusion, I realized this was similar to a technique used in military marksmanship called "aiming off." When a rifle can't be adjusted further, soldiers are sometimes instructed to aim slightly away from the target to compensate for consistent errors.

My coach was using the same principle. By telling me to aim right, he was correcting my tendency to hit too far left, ultimately improving my accuracy.

The Value of Being Usefully Wrong

These two incidents highlight a crucial lesson: sometimes, the fastest way to be right is to be deliberately wrong first. This concept aligns with Warren Buffett's famous quote, "It's better to be roughly right than precisely wrong."

To supplement Buffett's wisdom, we can add another perspective: "Sometimes, the quickest path to being roughly right is to start by being precisely wrong." This follow-up emphasizes that deliberate, strategic errors can be a powerful tool in problem-solving and skill development.

In both coding and sports, this approach offers several benefits:

1. Rapid feedback: By making deliberate "errors," you quickly gather information about the problem.

2. Intuition building: Exploring wrong answers helps you understand the boundaries of the correct solution.

3. Overcoming perfectionism: It encourages action over analysis paralysis.

4. Efficient learning: You often learn more from mistakes than from immediate success.

Applying "Useful Wrongness" in Your Life

Fox: If the fastest way to be roughly right is to be precisely wrong, I’m going to the North Pole by sleeping in all day long in my explorer clothes!

How can you leverage this principle in your own work or hobbies?

1. Embrace imperfection: Start projects with the understanding that your first attempt won't be perfect.

2. Use extremes: When stuck, try solutions that go too far in either direction.

3. Iterate quickly: Make small adjustments based on what you learn from each "wrong" attempt.

4. Reframe failure: See each mistake as valuable data, not a setback.

Remember, the goal isn't to be wrong for the sake of it, but to use controlled errors as a tool for rapid improvement and problem-solving.

By adopting this mindset, you might find that your "mistakes" become your most powerful teachers, guiding you toward solutions you might never have discovered through conventional thinking alone.