CAPTIVE TO OPINIONS YOU INSIST ARE TRUE

"An obstinate person does not hold opinions; they hold him."

Alexander Pope (1688-1744) English poet and satirist.

It's not so much a matter of your opinions being true as it is your insistence they are. 

Once you reject alternative views you give up your own right of choice.

SELF IMPOSED BLINDNESS

"We are least open to precise knowledge concerning the things we are most vehement about."

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American philosopher/author

And we are often most ignorant about things we are most vehement about.

Easy to fix.

Simply train your knee-jerk reaction to be "what else might be true?" rather than "what I think is true is true."

Do that and you'll be surprised how much more you learn.

I UNDERSTAND THAT

"Beware of the man who knows the answer before he understands the question."

Unknown source

And who among us has not been guilty of this?

You can't understand the question if you don't at least accept the possibility that you don't understand the question.

HOW OLD ARE YOU?

"I am not young enough to know everything."

Oscar Wilde

19th century Irish poet/dramatist

How old do you have to be before you learn how true this is?

I THINK I SHOULD LISTEN

"When the mind is thinking it is talking to itself."

Plato

4th century BC Greek philosopher

I wonder.

What happens if the mind isn't listening to what it has to say?

Ahh, but no doubt Plato took that into account when he said, "When the mind is thinking . . ."

A closed mind doesn't think.

IT'S A MATTER OF CHOICE

"There's none so blind as they that won't see."

Jonathan Swift

Late 17th/early 18th century Irish-born English satirist

We (all too) often only understand what we choose to understand.

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK

"It is with our judgments as with our watches: no two go just alike, yet each believes his own."

Alexander Pope

Late 17th/early 18th century English poet/satirist

Yet one more argument in favor of considering alternative views, in particular, those contrary to what we initially believe to be true.

IF YOU ONLY KNEW

"Knowledge of what is does not open the door directly to what should be."

Albert Einstein 

Late 19th/early 20th century German-Swiss-U.S. scientist

Or could be.

What you think you know might be enough to keep you from learning what you don't.

BUT ON THE OTHER HAND . . .

"Thou hast seen nothing yet."

Miguel de Cervantes

16th century Spanish novelist/dramatist/poet

You could assume at least two very different interpretations of this:

1. A statement of self-affirmation by a confirmed optimist.
2. An opinion expressed by the speaker about the limited life experiences of the listener.

How quickly you decided which says a lot about your propensity to consider alternatives.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED?

"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young." 

Henry Ford 

Late 19th/early 20th century American industrialist

Very few of you reading this will disagree with Mr. Ford.

But do you practice what he preaches?

If you refuse to continually reexamine your beliefs, occasionally changing your mind as a result of what you discover, you don't.

I DON'T WANT TO HEAR THAT

"A blind man will not thank you for a looking glass."

English proverb

You may be right, the other person wrong, but rarely will anything you say cause them to change their mind if they aren't predisposed to do so in the first place.

Who Knew?

"They are so knowing that they know nothing."

Terence

2nd centrury BC Roman playwright

Do you know what this means?

I Can't Be Wrong

"How can what an Englishman believes be hearsay? It's a contradiction in terms."

George Bernard Shaw

Late 19th/early 20th century Irish writer

National pride, such as that expressed by Mr. Shaw, is not the only form of self-delusional thinking.

The more you believe anything the less open you are to alternative views.

Not a good thing.

What Do You Want?

"It is part of the cure to wish to be cured."

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

1st century BC Roman philosopher/playwright

If you are sick, believing you can be well again does much to help you regain your health.

Likewise being willing to accept views counter to yours will help you do whatever is best, regardless of whose idea it is.

You have to want what is right rather than want to be right.

I Don't Want To Hear That!

"Beware of the person of one book."

Saint Thomas Aquinas

13th century Catholic priest/philosopher

Or of the manager of one mind, thought, opinion, etc.

I Don't Want To Hear Any More!

"The weaker the intellect the stronger the belief."

James Dee Richardson

19th century American politician

I get the point but feel this goes too far.

Conviction in beliefs does not necessarily correlate with lower intellect but I do think unchallenged belief can get in the way of an otherwise inquiring mind.

There are many managers who simply will not listen to alternative views once they become convinced they know what is "right".

How Open A Mind?

"I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief."

Gerry Spence

20th century American trial lawyer

It does not surprise me that a trial lawyer would say this, otherwise, how would one ever get a jury to reverse thinking on an accused, initially presumed by many to be guilty?

However, when it comes to business matters, which is preferable?

You Can't Tell Me Nothin'!

"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence."

Robert Frost

20th century American poet

Ironically to me, based on this definition, my "education" was at its lowest point when I had just completed my MBA; a time when my knowledge should have been the freshest it would ever be.

Since then I have become more tolerant and accepting of alternative views, realizing in the process how much there was to learn after I had graduated from college.

How about you?

Just Tell Me I'm Right

"We ask advice but we mean approbation."

Charles Caleb Colton

18th century British clergy/author

As a consultant, I can attest to this.

What is your ratio of advice asked for/accepted?

Management Tolerance

"Censorship ends in logical completeness when nobody is allowed to read any books except the books nobody reads."

George Bernard Shaw

Late 19th, early 20th century Irish writer

How tolerant of new thinking can management afford to be assuming employees all need to be "rowing" in the same direction?

How tolerant are you?