How do you feel when someone tells you, “You’re wrong.” 

For me, I instantly feel a twinge in my inner being. I might say, Who do you think you are? You don’t know me.

Or I might say, “Um okay, what am I wrong about?”

Either way, it’s coming from a stance that I couldn’t possibly be wrong, or at least I’m not as wrong as you think I am.

I’ve been learning a lot about how my own internal biases influence how I approach the world I live in—parenting, employee, friend, student.

Then I picked up Hans Rosling’s Factfulness. Have you read it before? Check out the byline:

Ten reasons we’re wrong about the world—and why things are better than you think.

Oh man. Just by reading the title and the byline, I was challenged.

How could the world be better than I think?

It made me ask the question, what do I think about the world?

If I was wrong about what I thought about the world, then I needed to know what I thought about the world.

Hans Rosling invites the world to take a hard look at ten assumptions we make about literacy, poverty, health, income, life expectancy and, yes, even endangered animals.

He does an expert job of living in the tension of fighting for what he would call possibilism, and yet seeing the facts. He lives in the tension of it’s not as bad as you think, and it can always get better.

“I am saying that things can be both bad and better.” – Hans Rosling

But that’s not all that this book does. It doesn’t just challenge the reader’s worldview. It’s a fascinating read and did uncover areas of misunderstanding I had of the world. Especially in areas of the world that are not in the American income bracket.

It was helpful not only for the information, but even more so for the heart behind Hans Rosling’s ability to invite the reader to pursue truth—not based on feelings or another worldview, but on the facts easily found.

“I want people, when they realize they have been wrong about the world, to feel not embarrassment, but that childlike sense of wonder, inspiration, and curiosity.”

Hans Rosling

It inspired curiosity.

Whenever I’ve had a problem at work, or with a leader, and presented my findings, I always am amazed when a leader responds with curiosity. It’s a trait I’ve been working on.

Not responding with a reaction, but responding with questions. It’s the desire to understand what’s going on that invites me to look at the incident from a different perspective and then move forward with a solution. Approaching a problem with curiosity is incredible attractive.

We talk about living open, and having an open mind. But how can we pursue growing this trait?

By humility and curiosity.

We’ll define humility by Hans Rosling’s definition: “Being humble, here, means being aware of how difficult your instincts can make it to get the facts right.”

And curiosity: “Being curious means being open to new information and actively seeking it out.” (Hans Rosling)

Being humble and curious de-escalates every situation. And it invites future conversation and problem solving. When someone knows you’ll listen and admit to not having all the facts, while at the same time know that you’re curious to get all the information, it opens the door to real solutions. 

And they’ll come back next time to solve the next problem.

We could all grow in our humility and curiosity. Submitting your time to this book, with this information, and Hans Rosling’s humble presentation of facts—you’ll add these qualities to your own life.