Getting Beyond Biases
Understanding your biases is essential if you want to recognize where your thinking is limiting your growth.
With that mindset, adjust your thinking and be more open to:
- listening and understanding other people’s positions,
- gaining new insights,
- removing misunderstandings, and
- growing.
Dynamic Collaboration
Begin with intent. Actively seek differing views that will allow you to challenge your own assumptions and learn from others. This process of seeking mutual agreement helps alleviate the problems that accompany polarized viewpoints. When differences are understood there are fewer communication breakdowns and more successful outcomes.
When you focus on shared understanding rather than division, you create space for growth and more effective problem-solving.
Getting Beyond Polarity
Collaboration Over Conflict: Instead of emotion-driven adversarial positions, share intelligence while considering interests and creating winning solutions.
Openmindedness & Reality Checks: Include diverse stakeholders and grow with believability-weighted decision-making.
In Search of Nuanced Thinking: Illustrate recognition that most issues go beyond black-and-white and yes-or-no…involving broad and deep perspectives, based on validated and unvalidated viewpoints.
Energized Solution-Oriented Mindsets: Use polarized thinking as a catalyst to energize people as they recognize and share the value embedded in individuals’ talents and strengths, while discovering innovative solutions.
Processes & Systems Thinking: Consider your biased viewpoints as part of the bigger picture of interconnected systems…especially in the energy sector where technology, politics, regulation, economics, and the environment all play roles.
