When you know that something is true and someone contradicts that knowledge, you likely reject, perhaps forcefully, what the person said without giving the statement much consideration.
After all, you already know that the person is wrong, so why should you listen? In fact, you should actually set the person straight, right? As a new leader, who is trying to build your credibility and authority, you may be even more adamant to prove that you are right and that the other person is wrong.
I encourage you to stop doing that and open your mind a bit.
Here’s why: What we know is not necessarily based in fact. What we know might only be what we believe, and believing something to be true does not make it true. When we assume our beliefs are facts, we are quick to reject any information or opinions that contradict our beliefs, and that often leads to mistakes and missed opportunities. We don’t learn because we refuse to accept anything other than what we believe to be true.
For example, a while back, during a conference I was attending, a well-respected productivity and time-management expert questioned the two-minute offense often used in football. In short, he wondered aloud how a team that had not moved the football in 58 minutes of a 60-minute game could focus for the last two minutes and score a touchdown. As he finished that part of his talk, he said: “Why can’t they run a two-minute offense for the whole game?”
As he asked that rhetorical question, I immediately thought “They can’t do that. After all, a football team cannot possibly run a two-minute offense for a full game. I know that to be true. Everyone knows that to be true.” I was too quick to dismiss the speaker’s questions (and ideas) because of my beliefs.
However, the more I thought about his question, the more I began to question my own belief about the two-minute drill. Was what I had grown to perceive as fact really a fact or just something I had been trained to believe as a fact? That’s when I began to think about ways that a team might run a two-minute offense for more of the game, which led me to think about my personal productivity and time-management habits. Then, I began to question what I knew to be true about my ability to become more productive and what “facts” limited my ability to do so.
The speaker knew what he was doing. He threw out an extreme statement about football that made me question my beliefs so that I began to think differently about time management and productivity. That was, in fact, his real objective. I do not think he really cared if a football team runs the full game using a two-minute offense. I do think he wanted people in the audience to rethink what they “knew” to be true so that they could learn something new.
He wanted us to all ask ourselves “What do I believe about my personal productivity? Am I really running at full capacity? Can I run a “two-minute offense” more frequently? Can I be more focused for more short periods of time so that I can accomplish more?” And, at least with me, he definitely got me to reconsider how I work.
Had I held on to my original beliefs and continued to dismiss his ideas, I never would have experienced that epiphany, and I certainly wouldn’t have benefited from his advice.
Don’t let your own beliefs stunt your growth. Continue to question what you know (or, rather, think) to be true. When you question the facts and dig a little deeper, you certainly might discover that they are indeed true. However, you might find that they are simply beliefs, not facts, and that creates real opportunities for you to learn and grow.
Bottom line: Keep an open mind and a willingness to accept new opinions and approaches to doing your job.
Photo Credit: www.freeimages.com/photo/question-5-of-5-future-1525616
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