Principles for Success “Be Radically Open-Minded” | Episode 7

Principles for Success: An Ultra Mini-Series Adventure in 30 Minutes and in Eight Episodes

Episode 7: Be Radically Open-Minded

Taking risks and occasionally being ruined wasn't acceptable, and neither was not taking risks and not having exceptional results. I needed an approach that would give me the exceptional upside without also giving me the exceptional downside. When I discovered it, it turned out to be my Holy Grail. To get it, I needed to replace the joy of being proven right with the joy of learning what's true.

This need prompted me to seek out the most thoughtful people I could find who disagreed with me. I didn't care about their conclusions; I just wanted to see things through their eyes and to have them see things through my eyes so that together we could hash things out to discover what's true. In other words, what I wanted most from them was thoughtful disagreement.

Going from seeing things through just my eyes to seeing things through the eyes of these thoughtful people was like going from seeing things in black and white to seeing them in color. The world lit up. That's what I realized: that the best way to go through the jungle of life is with insightful people who see things differently from me.

Think about the five-step process I described earlier. As I said, because we are wired so differently, not everyone can do all the five steps well. But you don't have to do them all alone. You can get help from others who are good at what you're not, who are wired to perceive things you can't. All you need to do is let go of your attachment to having the right answers yourself and use your fear of being wrong to become open-minded to these other views. In this way, you could point out the risks and opportunities that you would individually miss.

I found that taking this radically open-minded approach and believability weighting people's thinking significantly increased my probabilities of making the best decisions possible. This enabled me to ascend to greater heights and greater challenges. In the past, I would have always wanted to do what I myself thought was best, but now I sought out the strongest independent thinkers I could find. I still do.

There is nothing better than being on a shared mission with extraordinary people who can be radically truthful and radically transparent with each other. This approach led me to create a company with the unique idea meritocracy, operating in a unique way that produced unique successes.

In an idea meritocracy, you get the best of everybody. Everyone thinks independently, then we work through our disagreements to get at what's best. However, not every opinion is equally valuable, and we had to learn to distinguish between good ideas and bad ones to get the best decisions. In other words, we needed to believability weight people's thinking, but that's another story I will explain in my work, Principles.

Right now, there are many wonderful opportunities and dangerous risks surrounding you that you don't see. If you saw them free of the distortions produced by your ego or your blind spots, you would be able to deal with them more effectively. If you could acquire this ability, and with practice, you can, you will radically improve your life.

In episode 8, I will conclude our short journey together with a few practical thoughts so that you can begin your own journey toward whatever you want.