The Openness Model

In a transformational journey, it’s key for leaders to get new and better insights and ideas. This requires a certain level of permeability to new views and experienced by leaders. New ideas always arrive via a minority view, even when they’re unanimously adopted.

In their book “The Infinite Leader,” Chris Lewis and Pippa Malmgren write about the importance of embracing diverse thinking and minority perspectives. Leaders who always talk to the same people, especially people like them, are unlikely to spot new ideas.

I found the Openness Framework helpful to assess how many of my weekly interactions with others were in each of the circle’s quadrant.

What share of your meetings are diverse (people you are not familiar with and who have a minority view) and focused on listening?

I personally block time each week to meet diverse people or read various points of view. This to give counterweight to the internal meetings with the usual suspects.

What are your best practices?