Hold your answers lightly
How often do team members hold their answer as being all knowing and more right? How tightly do you hold onto your answers?
To deal with today’s more complex challenges, our current knowledge may not be enough. Great leaders accept the limitations of their knowledge. As Einstein said, “We can’t solve a problem with the same mindset that created it”.
To better deal with complex issues and access better answers, here are 3 things you could do:
Stop before you answer – rather than share the first answer that comes to your mind, stop. Our answers are limited by our knowledge. Knowledge is finite. First listen to other’s differing insights and perspectives.
Accept we see things differently – we don’t see the world as it is, we see it as we are. Our realities differ. Allow others’ different perspectives, opinions, and life experiences to inform and create a new and potentially better answer.
Be more curious – we’ve conditioned to value answers. Imagine if at school, we were assessed on the quality of our questions? Curiosity builds wisdom. Wisdom points us to new and better answers.
COMMITMENT
Julio Olalla, my teacher, once said, “Knowledge is a love affair with answers and wisdom is a love affair with questions.”
When you next face a complex challenge, invite your team to share 5 questions to access new thinking. Then let the questions create a rich dialogue. Observe what new and better answers arise.
May you flourish.