As a leader in a product organisation you probably want to be thought of as being creative; open to new ideas, yet resistant to manipulation; tolerant of others; and empathetic. You might want to get more out of the teams you work with, create more successful products, and spend less time debating and arguing.

Like me, you might think that you are super open-minded. If you do, stop right here! Please take a quiz like this one. I was just like you - I thought I was the most open-minded person in the room - then I did some digging and learnt what open-mindedness really was and how I was missing out on opportunities by being closed minded.

I can help you understand what open-mindedness is and become more open-minded. Doing so will help you:

• Be the creative, tolerant, empathetic person you want to be
• Get more from the people you work with
• Have more, better ideas and develop deeper insights.

Read on to find out more.

What the dictionary says

As always, let’s start with the Merriam-Webster definition of open-minded:

“receptive to arguments or ideas”

Let’s break that down:

• receptive - “able or inclined to receive; open and responsive to ideas, impressions, or suggestions”
• arguments - “the act or process of arguing, reasoning, or discussing; a coherent series of reasons, statements, or facts intended to support or establish a point of view”
• ideas - “a formulated thought or opinion”.