We get stuck in our opinions. Once we get stuck in our opinions, we get disconnected from others because they have their own opinions. Mostly they are also stuck in their own opinions.
Personally or Professionally, individually or collectively – most of the disconnect happens because we all have opinions and inadvertently some of our opinions are different than other people’s opinions.
This is the source of small fights, relationship breakdowns, business breakdowns, sabotage and can also lead to big community and global issues also.
As we get defensive about our opinions, we start to protect it from others. Part of protecting our opinion includes discrediting or damaging other opinions. In some extreme cases it also leads to destroying people with those opinions.
More people get stuck with one set of opinions, more people get stuck to the opposing opinions. We get stuck in one truth (which is of course our view) and deny/blind ourselves to other perspectives.
We differentiate between people as people who have opinions similar to ours and people who have different opinions, thus creating the silos of Us Vs Them.
Us Vs Them is the source of most of the misery on the planet – whether the divide is because of opinions or anything else like politics, religion, status, gender, age, money, language, geography and what not. This is what Dr. Otto Scharmer of MIT refers as ego thinking (thinking for the benefit of some and being blind/insensitive to others)
Is it really OUR opinion?
Or is it an opinion we picked up in the journey of life and then mistaken it as OUR Opinion.
How would it be if we all can move from it is MY Opinion to it is one possible opinion, one possible perspective?
When you can train people around you, family members, colleagues and other groups of people that you are involved with to relate to the opinions as opinions not my opinion or other’s opinion then a new space of possibilities can emerge.
There is also an advanced opportunity to build the discipline to fully understand opinions presented by everyone else without any pressure on self or others to give up their opinions and perspectives. This leads to expansion of paradigm for one and all.
Open mind is when your mind can hold multiple perspective about the same issue including seemingly opposite ones.
When everyone starts listening deeply to everybody’s perspectives, the barriers between our opinion and other’s opinion disappear and they show up as just opinions.
When boundaries around opinions disappear, boundaries around people start disappearing and we experience being profoundly connect to others – individually and collectively.
That is magic. That is peace. That is spirituality. That is progress. That is humanity.
So next time, when you are stuck to your opinion – ask yourself: Is this really MY opinion or is it an opinion that I am identifying with and getting stuck. Before we start some other war…
The future of the world depends on this shift : Is it really MY opinion?
Thanks for reading.
Manoj Onkar – Emerging Futurz (www.emergingfuturz.com) and MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS (www.managementinnovations.co.in)
Leadership from the Emerging Futurz : https://bit.ly/LFEFCohort25
MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS 