Nearly 19 years ago I was pregnant with my first child while a participant in a leadership program.
I brought a serious attitude along with the chip on my shoulder to the three-day event. So much so that the leader leaned over my shoulder and whispered in my ear, “I am the only bitch in the room.”
I thought to myself, “No you’re not.”
That program is the root of my three words exercise on defining your personal brand. We had to embrace new words and one of the words suggested for me was, open.
I thought, “No thanks. Closed has worked well for me.”
Obviously, I came around 
.
Everyone has their own idea of what it means to be open and accepting. Often it includes being open to all different kinds of people, different ideas, and keeping an open mind. All of these are absolutely true.
But sometimes we don’t realize we’re not fully open. As humans, we have a strong tendency towards confirmation bias. In other words, we take information in through the lens of what we already believe, to confirm our already stated beliefs.
So how do we overcome confirmation bias?
Being open is also about being open to being wrong.
To stay open, we need to stay in a place of curiosity over conclusions, seek contrary information, and act as our own devil’s advocate. You can do that by asking yourself, or the room, questions about whatever it is that’s being discussed.
If you’re talking about an idea, pose these questions:
- What don’t I know about this idea?
- What could enable the idea to work? What can get in the way?
- What if my assumption about that idea or their intention is wrong? What might we miss out on?
- Am I trying to be right? What might be the business impact or the relationship impact?
If someone is countering your idea, another way to interpret their input is to understand they are not discounting it but rather they are enhancing it or building on it. In essence, they are helping the idea mature.
Staying open is a habit we need to build. How do you let go of your confirmation bias?
How do you check yourself and stay open to greater, different, better, unique, and creative opportunities and ideas?