Strong opinions, weakly held

The idea: hold your opinions strongly enough to advocate for them, but weakly enough to change them when presented with new information.

I mean, okay. The values here are solid. But this industry truism is predicated on the idea that people want to argue about things and then change their minds–and I’ve found that, by the time someone’s arguing about something, they’re already pretty dug in. It’s going to be an ego hit for them to turn around and say: this thing I’ve been all-in for? Nope. I was wrong.

Nobody likes to do a wholesale, boolean reversal. Y’know what’s doable? Shifting along a continuum. If your opinions are nuanced and your attachment to them not a black-and-white proposition, you can shift the details as new information comes in without the self-compromise. You can say: “I was wrong about this part, but I still think this other part is important.” Or: “I was 80% in on this being the best way, but now I’m only 60%”.

If you can do this for yourself, your ability to grow will be higher–and less painful.

If you can do this for your team, together, you’ll be unstoppable.

I’m about 70% sure of it.