Be prepared to re-think truths you
have accepted.
There’s a great little bitty book
entitled The Elizabethan World Picture by E.M.W. Tillyard. It
summarizes the “knowledge” of science, religion, philosophy, and politics in
the age of Queen Elizabeth.
This books is a great read for two
reasons. First, it helps the modern thinker to understand what people
believed and how those beliefs fit into the “common knowledge” of
Sharespeare, Donne, Milton, Spenser, and others. Second, and perhaps
more importantly, the book helps us to understand why newer, more modern
explanations were rejected so completely when first introduced.
How can the earth revolve around the
sun when everyone knows that all the celestial bodies revolve
around the earth?
It is possible that everything we
know is wrong.
Stop: Think about that.
If the earth is spinning, then why
do objects fall straight down? If I drop a rock from a high place, why
does it not land some distance from where I dropped it?
The more scientific we become, the
more arrogant we are about our knowledge. When I was a kid, in the 60’s
and 70’s, “everyone” believed in the Big Bang Theory. Even in graduate
school I remember hearing from a science major that the Big Bang was an
undisputed truth. Now, in the early days of the 21st
century, it isn’t the truth anymore. In fact, we’ve already passed
through a period in which it was hotly debated and now there are several
schools of thought that reject the Big Bang and spend their energy
debating alternative hypotheses.
The same may be true for your
business and personal life. We all learn
things because they make sense; they fit in with how we understand the
world. They fit into our “world picture.”
But so much of how we understand the
world is a product of our social experience and our personal experience,
that what we know might not be true at all. This is why
leaders have to be open to new ideas and why managers need to
listen to recommendations from new employees.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve
heard someone say “We tried that” or “Our customers aren’t interested in
that.” At some time in the past, the company tried something and it
didn’t work. So they now know it won’t work. They know
forever
their customers aren’t interested. They know you can’t make
money doing that.
In other words, the company is now
unwilling to try things because their world view informs them that it
won’t work.
In the meantime, the world keeps
spinning. Customers are ready for something today they weren’t ready
for a year ago. Customers have become more sophisticated and understand
more than they did two years ago. Customers are tired of doing things
the old way and wish someone would sell them a better solution.
Remember this: Your personal
evolution takes place when your attitude is ready to receive a
new message and the message is presented in a manner that aligns with
your current attitude. That’s why it’s so important to keep reading
material in your field.
You may read about a specific
approach or concept ten times but it doesn’t strike you as true or
relevant. Then one day your attitude is just right: You’re open to
making some changes and you think you know the direction to head. When
you’re open to change and you read that same concept again, and it’s
worded just the right way, it suddenly sounds true and profound. Ten
times it was just an interesting idea, but today it will change your
business or your life.
The same is true for people as well
as businesses. Do you know that someone will never accept the
new policy? Do you know that someone will never leave the
company? Do you know your spouse isn’t willing to change?
What exactly do you know and why
do you know it? Is what you know real? How are you limiting your
success because you know something that stands in your way?
Be open.
Be open to the possibility that
everything you know is wrong.
Practical Example:
Having Both Sides of the Conversation
One of the glories of being married
is getting to know someone very well. One of the challenges of
being married is the temptation to assume that, because you know this
person so well, you know how she will respond to a request or an idea.
I'm very guilty of this. I don't ask to do something I want to do
because I know what the response will be. In other words, I have
both sides of the conversation and never bother my wife with the need to
provide her half.
And this is just silly. First, people change over time.
Second, I am really assuming and not asking. Third, this is a very
limiting behavior. Even if she says "no," she'll know that I'm
interested.
We do this in our personal lives and
at work. We don't ask for what we want (from bosses, from
employees, from co-workers). We "know" what the answer is, so we
don't ask. This is a huge, nation-wide, horrible problem. It
reinforces inertia in the worst way. Not only do we resist change
because we're comfortable, we also resist it because we assume we
know how others will react. So doing the same thing (even though
everyone knows it's not as good as it could be) is easier than proposing
changes.
Try this in your office: Agree
to stop limiting your conversation--for one week--due to any assumptions
about how someone will respond. Obviously you'll have some fun
around this. Then notice that ideas come out and some real
creative energy will emerge. In addition, those long-held "No we
can't do that" policies may be re-evaluated!
It can't hurt and it might be great
for revitalizing the business.
