The Power of Having an Open Mind

Developing an open-minded rather than closed-minded mindset will benefit you personally and professionally.

What I read: “The Difference Between Open-Minded and Closed-Minded People” by Farnam Street.

Throughout my life since childhood, I’ve been obsessed with self-improvement books. Much of the self-improvement (also known as self-help) material I’ve consumed lays out specifically codified methods and strategies for achieving.

The resulting downside for me consuming so much of that self-improvement messaging is that I bought into just about everything those books offered. Some of it was good. Some of it was wrong. Probably most of it really needed to have “it depends” attached to its messaging.

Life is not a simple, linear thing. Neither is achieving anything. Life tends to throw us twists and turns and it’s how we adapt and recalibrate when confronted with those changes that best determines how successful we’ll be.

The article by Farnum Street uses the word anomalies to describe those twists and turns. That’s a good word.

The contention is that one of the differentiators between people who make positive progress in their personal and professional lives is how they approach problems. Adopting a mindset that remains open to being wrong and a willingness to learn (open-mindedness) gives us an advantage that allows us to outperform those with a more closed-minded mindset.

How you respond to anomalies is a good indicator of your open-mindedness.

Anomalies are like a glitch in the matrix. You can identify these moments when you find something surprising, missing, or strange.

Anomalies indicate the world doesn’t work the way you thought it did. These moments can be worth their weight in gold if you pay attention.

Closed-minded people tend to ignore or gloss over anomalies. Open-minded people want to dive in and understand. Of course, diving in is hard as it may require you to discard your ideas and beliefs.

The rest of the article goes on to explain seven principles that billionaire Ray Dalio uses to tell the difference between a closed versus open mind. While I always hesitate to take any advice from a billionaire since they often espouse the rampant myth of being an entirely “self-made” success, these principles do stand up to scrutiny in my opinion.

Reading the article will give more depth to the understanding of these seven principles, but here is the gist.

1. Open-minded people allow their ideas to be challenged.

They don’t assume they’re always correct. For me, this also relates directly to my own efforts to talk less and listen more, to try to actively listen rather than always being ready to jump in with my next thought or argument. I’m a talker. This is not easy for me, but I’m trying.

This mindset also elevates the virtue of curiosity. Remaining curious throughout life is to constantly have one’s existing ideas changed by new information or situations.

Lifelong learners tend to more readily embrace that their ideas may be challenged and need to change to align with new facts and ways of thinking.

2. Open-minded people more readily ask questions rather than make definitive statements.

How often have you had a conversation with someone and you’ve realized they weren’t really listening to you at all but were instead simply ready to jump in quickly with the next thing they wanted to say? I’m as guilty as anyone of this impolite and ineffective way to have a conversation. I’m working on getting better.

Defaulting to asking honestly curious, probing questions during conversations tends to elicit far better interactions and understanding. Actively listening while asking meaningful questions during a conversation or other potential learning situations serve us all better.

3. Open-minded people want to understand, not just try to be understood.

I can get extremely defensive about my ideas and opinions. That’s not a good thing. It’s rarely served me well. Now, lately when I try to understand someone else or a conflicting idea, the outcomes are always better.

Truly open-minded people take to heart the concept of stepping into other people’s shoes. They try to see things through the eyes of others.

When you disagree with an open-minded person, they are quick to assume that they might not understand something and to ask you to tell them where their understanding is incomplete.

4. The “I could be wrong, but…” clue to a closed mind.

I’ve done this. I have no doubt I’ve uttered something akin to “I could be wrong, but…” many times as a perfunctory gesture that allowed me to still hold on to my opinion while feigning being open-minded.

If like me you catch yourself doing this, consider the option of asking a question to increase your understanding of the other person’s stance or opinion.

5. Shut up and listen.

This is a big one for me. I’m a talker. That often results in me cutting off others during conversations. In my misguided desire to stake my claim to the “correct” opinion I sometimes talk over them. Awful habit. Again, I’m working on it.

We all know people who like the sound of their own voice talking more than any other. Rarely are they the most popular people in social or professional circles.

When in doubt, shut up and listen. I’ve never experienced this as not being a good strategy for better conversations, learning, and optimal resolutions.

6. Holding two (or more) opposing ideas at the same time is a sign of open-mindedness.

I can believe something to be true and still hold an opposite viewpoint in my mind as a viable alternative truth. Or, a truth that lives alongside a truth I already believe.

Truly curious people maintain opposing views all the time. One can’t be deeply curious and always assume there’s only one ultimate truth or one way of looking at something.

7. Humility is a sign of an open mind.

How often have you metaphorically (or literally) rolled your eyes when someone spews forth nothing but a series of braggart statements. We don’t like braggarts.

We also don’t like people who never assume they’re wrong.

We like humble people. We tend to trust humble people over those who never admit to an incorrect or misguided stance.

If our failures (and we all have them) teach us anything, let it be that humility is indeed a virtue to value.

But, we’re all human.

None of us do this perfectly. I sure don’t. But I try.

We’re all human and therefore imperfect. But I contend those of us who try to not succumb to shortcomings that close our minds rather than open them end up doing much better in life, have more true friends, succeed more professionally, and generally approach life with a bit more intellectual honesty than if we let our dedicated entrenchment in our opinions and ideas create a growth roadblock.

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