There is a fine line between standing one’s ground and being hardheaded. When making important decisions, flexible thinking allows opportunity for making strategic decisions.
Recognize these signs that you’re being too inflexible:
- When others present an idea, you tend to point out all the reasons it won’t work.
- You feel anger, frustration, and impatience when others try to persuade you of something you don’t agree with.
- You dig your heels in because you can’t stand to be wrong or only want to do things your way.
There’s nothing wrong with standing your ground for the things you believe in. It’s being blinded by your own opinions and unable to see other courses of action that gets in the way of a satisfying solution.
Strategies to flexible thinking include:
- Listen to understand. Get a good sense of the bigger context by seeking to understand the other point of view.
- Be open to possibilities. At least explore other alternatives.
- Admit when wrong. If you realize you were wrong, gain credibility by being accountable for your decisions and actions.
- Decide when it’s worth it. Is the situation worth being right? Recognize when it’s okay to go with a decision that you can live with, even if it’s not your top choice.
“Being stubborn can be a good thing. Being stubborn can be a bad thing. It just depends on how you use it.” Willie Aames