An excerpt from Malcolm Gladwell's interview goes like this

Q: What makes you successful, in your mind?  

MG: Not sure if it makes me stand out. What I try to do—try to be—is unafraid of making a fool of myself. Often I will often say something that later I consider wrong. I don’t mind changing my mind. The older I get, the more I’ve come to understand that the only way of pursuing valuable things and saying valuable things is if you lose your fear of standing corrected. Especially as a writer. I’m not making fiscal policy for the United States where an error is catastrophic. I’m provoking people to think. An appropriate mindset to have if that is your job, is to be unafraid. It’s about trying an argument out in front of intelligent people. There’s a 40% chance I’ll be wrong, but that’s OK. That’s the mindset you need to have.

Not sure about being successful or not, but surely to create an impression of confidence and to be respected by others, it is necessary for one to express their thoughts freely and clearly, even if it may not entirely be correct or the best solution.

Day in and day out, be it in meetings, conferences, classrooms, there is a lack of free flow of thoughts. Many Q&A sessions go waste because of lack of interactions. I wonder at the extent of losses because of inconclusive discussions or at the ill-effects of sub-standard conclusions that are caused just because of a single issue ..... NOT BEINGVOCAL

I have seen a lot of people, including me hesitate in answering or at free expression of thoughts many a time fearing at the thought making a fool of oneself in front of others. What if it is totally wrong? what if it may appear foolish? what if it makes me to perceived as stupid? Ironically they will be perceived as unconfident, indecisive, unassertive or even foolish for not speaking up.

Some people are introverts by nature, making them hesitant to act in public forum/platform. But what i opine to be a major factor for such behaviour is from fear of expression and fear of failure, both of which are sculpted majorly during the person's brought up. Atleast in India, where the children mostly stay with their parents, parents play a huge role in  the makeup of the child's character. That is where it becomes important to hone this nature. Free expression of the child's thoughts, even if it is a wrong one has to be supported. Curbing free expression and continuous suppression of opinions will lead to a hesitant under-confident individual during the adult years.

Every parent wants their child to succeed and be the best. Such a rat race creates an environment of reckless illogical competition where there is no room for failure. Such constant pressure to perform creates individuals who take every single action seriously validated by a fear of failing. There is an aversion towards activities that could make them look foolish.

The last option for such individuals to bounce back is to be able to actively identify the necessity and change the habit. I wonder how many ever would...