Are You Open to the Idea that You are Closed Minded?

By Michelle Malay Carter on June 15, 2008 

Singing Off an Old Sheet of MusicI came across a job announcement the other day and one of the personal characteristics they were looking for in a candidate was open-mindedness.?

My question is, if you asked 100 people if they were open minded, how many would say no?

I suspect that closed-minded people view themselves as being principled, right, or knowledgeable, but not closed minded.? And if you are closed-minded, would you be open to the fact that you are closed-minded?

The Ebb and Flow of Open-mindedness
From a work levels perspective, I’ve been in discussions where some have hypothesized that our degree of open-mindedness might ebb and flow relative to our current cognitive problem solving capability stage with the odd numbered stages being more “closed” and the even numbered stages being more “open”.? This is based upon anecdotal evidence only.

Requisite Work Levels Link to Open-mindedness?
To further illustrate this thought, I’ll briefly summarize the problem solving pattern at levels one through four.? Do you see a pattern?

Problem Solving Pattern:?

Level One:? or, or??
i.e.??The solution is either?this or that not both.

Level Two:? and?
i.e.? The solution is this and this and maybe that too.? All are important.

Level Three:? A leads to B leads to C leads to…
i.e. I will follow one cause and effect pathway to get to the solution or answer.

Level Four:? A leads to B leads to C…? But A, B, and C must be balanced with 1, 2 and 3.
i.e.? I have to balance and consider multiple pathways because they are all relevant to my solution.

Do you see the pattern – closed, open, closed, open?? So my hypothesis would be that as we mature, we move through stages of being more open-minded and less depending on our current problem solving pattern.? This would make for an interesting doctoral dissertation.

The Problem with Categorizing
The sad part is that once we’ve categorized a person as open-minded or closed-minded (or anything for that matter), we often fail to revisit or classifications to check their validity over time.? Our perceptions of people can be based upon interactions and impressions we formed years prior.? Many of us sing from an old sheet of music.

Spotting Untapped Talent
I’ve got a client who may be missing some untapped talent within his organization because he has not updated his impressions of a certain employee lately.

Update Your Perceptions.? They are Likely Dusty.
When was the last time you sought to update your impressions of people using current data instead of mindlessly humming the old tunes in your head?

I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system.

Filed Under Managerial Leadership, Personal Observation, Requisite Organization, Talent Management, Work Levels

Comments

One Response to “Are You Open to the Idea that You are Closed Minded?”

  1. Siddhartha on August 27th, 2009 7:44 am

    How refreshingly original and striking! Most don’t look beyond the obvious n work with an attitude shaped by past impacts.. Very few press the ‘Refresh’ button every morning to take in how our co-workers have changed n also use that approach in Problem Solving..