Challenging the status quo

And the need for challenging your own world view.

This is one of the most important things I think we can discuss in and around the business world. It affects every part of our lives, personal and professional. We need to understand what we believe and why. All of our experiences have cemented a certain conviction within us. These experiences have formed the glasses that we look though to see, identify, and interpret all that happens around us. These glasses can be good; however they can also be a handicap.

It is prudent of me, as a leader of an active team in the competitive business world, to encourage debate. This is the antidote for our formed glasses that we see through. Some times to see clearly it will take conflict to clear the air, if you will, and see though our false assumptions. To realize that one person cannot arrive with the same conclusion as another, calls for debate. Looking at the same challenge from different eyes is a good thing to do. One may be afraid, while another may be enlighten. This extreme fascinates me. We need to have this debate to help clear our experience and come to the right conclusion. Present the two ideas and see what happens.

It is my vision that I work around people who would challenge me regarding things they are passionate about even though I’m “the boss”. Get informed. Focus on what you believe is true. Present your best idea or argument. And let the debate form you and your understanding of what is true. It could very well be that you may not be seeing things as clearly as you originally thought. You have to encourage this as the norm to test what you know and see if it is true.

I don’t consider myself the chief executive but more of a debate coordinator. Then the team is the executive of the vision and the ideas. Let the conflict of ideas begin. Can you see the anticipated, excited smile on my face……?