Rigid certainty doesn’t think, it defends. In all your learning, learn to be a learner.
You expand when you explore and contract when you know. We begin to grow when we know we don’t know.
Arrogance knows. Humility grows.
A contrarian approach to Growth
#1. Wait for the what-about moment. Quick answers feel right. Solve slowly. Lean into confusion instead of running from it.
#2. Listen to people you don’t like. Irritating people are different from you. Learning is exploring difference.
#3. Go with before pushing against. Seek to understand an idea before you challenge it. Ask yourself, “What if they’re right?”
#4. Open the door to doubt. Say, “I could be wrong.” The person who knows is missing something. Too much doubt paralyzes, but a little doubt creates opportunity.
#5. Learn from discomfort. Pain teaches more than comfort.
#6. Adopt other people’s perspective. People on the front line may not know as much as you but their viewpoint matters. It’s incredible that a VP who has never done the work has the audacity to know how the work should be done.
#7. Don’t pretend you know. Fake knowledge is foolishness parading as wisdom. Say, “I’m not sure, but let’s find out.” Overconfidence boasts of knowledge it doesn’t have.
#8. Try something that feels awkward. Things that feel right align with the past and keep you doing more of the same.
#9. Record your ideas. Writing is thinking. Thoughts that sound smart in your head look dumb on paper.
#10. Say, “That’s interesting,” when you hear something that seems wrong. “Tell me more,” is an open door. “That’s wrong,” slams it shut.
Which idea in this post feels most relevant to your situation?
