Be Open Minded

I often speak about being open-minded and receptive to new ideas. A mentee of mine caught me out on this point recently and asked me to help him understand the idea of being open-minded with specific workplace examples he could relate to.

This request got me thinking, and rather than responding immediately, I took a day to think about specific examples I could share with him.

I am sharing below a gist of what I shared with him- Three ways we can end up being closed-minded at work and what we must do instead to keep an open mindset.

Don’t Hold On Too Strongly To Your Past Experiences

Refrain from holding on too strongly to your past experiences(irrestpective of whether they were good or bad!!) as a reference to what you want to do now. E.g., when I was in my previous company, I did this, and it worked, or I did that, and it did not work, and therefore, I will do something like this or not do something like that. 

Being open-minded means acknowledging that many factors contribute to outcomes, and you will take an objective view of every situation and decide on the merits of the situation instead of being shackled by the beliefs of your past experiences.

Keep Your Eyes And Ears Open

Don’t be indifferent to what is happening and miss out on new signals and ideas. We live in volatile and ever-changing times. Business conditions change, market situations change, and if you are not alert and open to these changes, you will likely make decisions based on your ignorance of new facts.

Be alert to the environment. Keep track of everything happening around you. Being open-minded means keeping your ears and eyes open and constantly upgrading your knowledge base. Unfortunately, ignorance is never bliss in work settings.

Be Connected

Don’t operate in isolation, and try to do everything yourself. We work in highly connected environments, and you will not have all the answers to every problem. 

So, be connected to the right resources and the right people. Build networks within the organization and outside such that they can help you deal with different situations effectively. When you connect and network with others, you break the barriers of your old thoughts and gain new insights. You learn faster and better through osmosis when you are connected with the right people and resources.