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Keep an Open Mind

As you investigate, gather information, create alternatives, analyze those alternatives, and come to a decision, keep an open mind to possibilities you may not have considered before you started the process.

Avoid allowing preconceived notions about how to solve a problem or what is best for the organization to color your research and your analysis—and ultimately your judgment and decision. Be open to new ideas. Be open to new factors you might not have considered. For new factors, look for such things as you examine the problem, challenge, or opportunity.

The reason you use this process is to get the best information and the finest recommendations available. In doing so, be open to new ideas, new thinking, and new approaches you yourself may not have considered. In group consensus decision making, remember that everyone’s ideas are valid, and that there may well be good ideas lurking in the most unusual of places. Be open to those.