Decisive leaders who “never change their minds” belong to the past. New leaders should accept to be wrong, be “We learn it all”, not “I know it all”

The stereotype of “decisive leaders” who “never change their minds” belongs to the past. New leaders should remain open to counterarguments, change opinions, accept they might be wrong. They are “We learn it all”, not “I know it all”.

I recently read "Noise. A Flaw in Human Judgment", by D. Kahneman, O. Sibony, and C. R. Sunstein. As any book by Daniel Kahneman, a masterpiece on the way our mind works and on how we reasons and take decisions. Among the concepts which impressed me the most, in chapter 19 the authors reviewed various tests that have been used for assessing cognitive styles and their implications for decision-making. For example, people who score high on the question “how much do you like to think hard about problems” tend to be less susceptible to cognitive biases. Also, people who score higher on critical thinking skills and who are not over-confident are also more reliable decision-makers.

However, as described by the authors, the only cognitive style or personality that can predict forecasting performance (as well as the ability to take effective decisions under uncertainty) is being “actively open-minded thinkers”. Those who are actively open minded routinely search for new information that could contradict their prior beliefs, are methodical in integrating that information into their current perspective, and are willing (sometimes even eager) to change their minds as a result.

Of course, the cognitive style described above does not fit the stereotype of a “decisive leader”. To reduce error in judgment, it is better to remain open to counterarguments and to accept that you might be wrong – being decisive should come at the end of the process not at the beginning. Also, the authors noted that there is strong evidence that actively open-minded thinking is a skill that can be taught (and learned).

When reading it, I could not avoid connecting it with the Growth Mindset, as conceived by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck. In 2006, C. Dweck popularized the concept of ‘mindset’ in her book "Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success". She studied student’s attitudes about failure and proposed that people have underlying beliefs about learning and intelligence because of their mindset. Dweck went on to bifurcate it into what we today know as?‘growth mindset’ and ‘fixed mindset’.?

The?definition of growth mindset?is much simpler than it sounds. In a nutshell, it is the belief that skills and intelligence can be improved with effort and persistence. People with a?growth mindset?embrace challenges, stay resilient in the face of difficulties, learn from constructive criticism and seek out inspiration in others’ success.

People with a?growth mindset?are determined to learn irrespective of failures or successes. More often than not successful people continue on their self-improvement journeys even after they ‘make it’ in life.

Encouraging a growth mindset gives your students (and your workforce) the motivation and grit they need to move through hard times. Because they see themselves as capable of tackling new challenges, they see failure as an opportunity to learn. This is even more important when we operate in a world full of uncertainty and complexity.

What do you think? Do you agree? Have you read these two books? I look forward to reading any feedback, hopefully with a growth mindset, open to accept I may be wrong and to change my opinion on this ??