Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater, identifies seven key signs of closed-mindedness in his book Principles. Go through the list and honestly ask yourself: do I sometimes behave this way? Which topics or situations tend to trigger this behaviour?
- You don’t want your ideas challenged. Closed-minded people are more interested in being right than in learning others’ perspectives and asking questions. You feel bad about getting stuff wrong, and you are frustrated when you can’t get someone else to agree with you.
- You are more likely to make statements than to ask questions. Open-minded people tend to ask a lot of questions.
- You focus more on being understood than on understanding others. When someone disagrees with them, closed-minded people will often assume that they aren’t being understood, rather than considering whether they are the ones who are not understanding the other person’s perspective.
- You say “I could be wrong, but…” Ray Dialo calls it “a perfunctory gesture that allows people to hold their own opinion while convincing themselves that they are being open-minded.”
- You prevent others from speaking. Closed-minded people tend to not leave enough room in the conversation for other people to participate and share their opinions, effectively blocking them.
- You have trouble holding two thoughts simultaneously in your mind. Open-minded people tend to not struggle as much to hold several conflicting concepts in their mind and to go back and forth between them.
- You lack a deep sense of humility. Of course, many people consider themselves humble. But we often let our ego get in the way of our thinking. Humility comes from experiencing failure, and closed-minded people tend to avoid failure by sticking to what they think they know.
How to foster an open mind
Looking at the seven key signs of closed-mindedness identified by Ray Dalio and designing counter-strategies is a good way to foster an open mind.
- Manage your emotions. Don’t get angry when someone disagrees with you. Understand that there is always the possibility that you might be wrong, and that it’s worth it to consider the other person’s opinion in order to be sure you are not missing something.
- Ask lots of questions. Asking good questions is one of the best ways to learn. Avoid leading questions. Keep them as open as possible to give the other person enough flexibility in their answers.
- Use the two-minute rule. Ray Dalio recommends giving the other person at least two minutes of uninterrupted time to explain their thinking before jumping in with your own. The longer, the better.
- Focus on listening. When discussing a topic with someone, truly listen to them. Don’t start forming an answer in your head before they’re done speaking.
- Diversify your content diet. The content of your mind garden is largely based on the seeds you plant in it. Make sure to consume content from various sources so you can compare various opinions instead of sticking to your default ones.
- 링크: nesslabs.com/closed-mind-to-open-mind
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