Curiosity Killed The Cat but It Will Help You!

There are two very common reactions when people listen to presentations or attend workshops;

  1. Looking for affirmation.

You want the presenter to talk about things that you are already doing so that you can get your knowledge or your processes affirmed.

”That was a great presentation! I feel that we are doing a lot of things right from what he said”

  1. Dismissal/Denial

You refuse to accept or like anything in the presentation. Your excuses can vary but some common ones are:

  • ”She doesn´t understand OUR reality, that might work where she is from but not where we are” (insert small town, country etc) 😉
  • ”He isn´t experienced enough to tell me what or how to do things”
  • ”We have always done things this way and it works just fine”
  • ”They just want everyone to do it the same way as they are, perhaps we don´t want that”

Both 1 and  2 are signs of a mindset from people who are not ready to learn or try new things.

2 might be a bit more obvious but 1, someone who is looking for affirmation, is only going to notice things that he or she is already familiar and comfortable with

  • ”We don´t have to change anything, we are already doing that” 
  • ”Nothing in that presentation was new for me”       

 

Really?         Nothing?

 

 

 

 

2

Be more aware

is more obvious because it´s expressed in a more negative way. But 1 is just as ”dangerous” for you as it ALSO prevents you from learning.

Be vary of your reactions when listening to presentations, when reading books or when taking in new information in general. We are often ”primed” in different ways, sometimes without even knowing it ourselves.

If you dismiss a person, or a business, based on a couple of presentations or posts on social media, you clearly don´t have enough information to make any assumptions. You definitely don´t have enough information to judge wether they have something to teach you or not. It might hurt your future business, or your future as a leader, a lot if you dismiss things to early and to easily. The opportunity cost can be massive. You will be missing out.

Reflect
Looking back, what would you say is your typical way of reacting to presentations. Is there anything you can/should change in order to learn more and in order to grow more?

//Per