In an excellent piece about how develop a community and allow constructive debate, Pamela Slim states “It is important to be flexible in thinking and open to change, or as my friend Bob Sutton likes to phrase it “Strong opinions, weakly held.””
I love this statement. We definitely need to hold strong opinions on things; this is a proof of character and that we don’t take things for granted. At the same time, we need to be ready to put our beliefs in question and be open to contradictory evidence. The statement is then a beautiful call for open-mindedness and tolerance of other’s opinions.
As Pamela writes: “I do not like conflict. And I have learned to embrace it, since it is impossible to do anything meaningful without making mistakes, running into differing opinions or pissing someone off. It is important that we speak clearly, openly and honestly to each other when we don’t agree on something. It is important that we listen with an open heart, and curiosity.”
