Just for Grins...

In the first ten minutes of a conversation, the CEO said,

“I make really good decisions.”

“I am good at keeping emotion out of my decision making.”

“I do things right.”

I stopped the conversation.  “So, just for grins are you open to not being right about any of that?  Are you open to an opposite point of view?”

“What do you mean”, he asked.
 

“Just try any of these on…”

• “Sometimes, I make poor decisions.”
• “Sometimes, my emotions effect my decision making.”
• “Sometimes, I don’t do things right.”

“I don’t like those,” he said.

 

“I know.  But, how does it change the way you might act in the situation?  How might you shift your perspective?”

 

“Well if I was concerned about a poor decision being made or my emotions were driving the bus, I might engage some people smarter than me in the conversation.  I might not assert my opinion so forcefully.  I might be more open.”

 

“And, what might happen with your team in that case?”

 

“Okay.  I get it.  They’d buy in.  They’d have a chance to weigh in.  I’d be getting the best from the people I’ve hired to bring their best.”

 

“So, both can be true? You can believe you make good decisions and you can also derive value by approaching a situation as if you believed you might make a poor decision?”

 

“Yes, Vince.”

  

Cool.