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Are you often accused of changing your mind too often or too easily? Well it might not be such a bad thing, and perhaps, a sign of strength and courage.
Do you get everything right, first time? I don’t. And when I uncover my mistake, what do I do? a) continue and hope that my mistake doesn’t cause disaster? or b) fix the mistake?
So why should a decision be any different? If I make a bad decision, I must fix it by changing my mind and making a different decision, before the consequences of my mistake escalate. In the corporate environment, it takes courage to do this! It isn’t a sign of weakness, but a demonstration of strength and honesty. And in some cases, courage.
We are often judged by our decisions – managers make decisions every day. Surely they can’t all be right? And then a decision that is right now, might not be right when time or more information passes. So do we stick by our original decision, to save face, even though we know it to be wrong?
Changing your mind is not the same as indecisiveness…
Indecisive: not able to make decisions quickly and effectively.
Change of mind: a decision to reverse an earlier decision.
So don’t be afraid to change your mind, when you know it is the right thing. Those who criticize you for it – to hell with them.
A good friend of mine said last week “Maybe I am too indecisive… I’m not sure”.
“If you never change your mind, why have one?” – Edward de Bono
Warning: changing your mind is not the same as forgetting previous decisions
Forgetting a previous decision, and then making a different one is not the same as changing your mind! It’s confusing to people, and will make you appear unorganized and politically-oriented.
I’ve worked for a couple of managers who have been just that, and it is painful and difficult.
When we change our mind, we really must acknowledge the previous decision and recognize the impact of changing it.
