The key is to realise that having an opinion is a key way we manage our path through the world. Opinions and thoughts create meaning and give our life structure.
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Is it OK to have opinions?
Yes.
Is it OK to share opinions?
Yes, please do. It’s how we all learn.
Forming, shaping, and expressing opinions is one of the key ways to share and generate knowledge. In fact, the lost art of debate speaks to this.
Is it OK to change my opinion?
Absolutely, it would be crazy if you didn’t. The world is moving so fast right now you absolutely need opinion fluidity. Our opinions need to be able to evolve over time. What you think is true today may not be so tomorrow.
Is it OK for your opinions to harm or disadvantage others?
No.
Strong opinions such as those held by ideological fundamentalist work on the idea that one group's set of opinions are superior to another. History shows us how messed up this is, flat earth, long march, totalitarianism. Whether it's the central beliefs and intolerance to new ideas at the time of Galileo or the arrogance of selecting a nation's opinions in the time of Stalin, control based opinions that exclude, harm, or make wrong of others are not OK. Perhaps, the only dogma we should accept is that there should be no dogma.
Are my opinions true?
Probably not. Unless you or I know everything there is to know, which we clearly can't.
So, are you saying I should not have opinions?
All opinions are frameworks or models of seeing the world and all are useful until they are not.
The key is to realise that having an opinion is a key way we manage our path through the world. Opinions and thoughts create meaning and give our life structure. They are dangerous if they become inflexible or weaponised in some way.
OK then, what is your real opinion on opinions?
I believe that all beliefs are simply thoughts we continue to have and that opinions are localised beliefs. Thoughts, Opinions, and Beliefs are illusions of the mind and not the truth. Hold your thoughts stubbornly as true and you end up creating suffering for you and others.
Hold them lightly. You are not your thoughts.
So you started Thought Leaders so all this is a bit odd, isn't it?
Well yes and no. This kind of speaks to the heart of Thought Leaders and thought leadership.
Half-baked
Ill-conceived
Tightly held
Self-serving
Controlling and manipulating thoughts
Can take a hike I reckon.
If your thoughts are well-shaped and empathetic to the needs of others, they may have value. Share your thoughts in service to others and you make money. That's the way of Thought Leadership, holding opinions lightly, developing them fully and putting them to work in service to the needs of others.
Do this and it works.
and that's my opinion on opinions.
If you want to learn more about Thought Leaders Business School, join us at our next discovery session.
If you've thought about attending one of our discovery sessions but haven't managed to make it yet, you can watch the replay of our last session here.
Matt Church
Founder
