Opinions aren’t enough; Information matters too
A well-informed opinion is like driving a new car off the lot, it begins losing value immediately. The world is constantly changing; the people in our world are constantly changing; the context in which we live our lives is constantly changing. This means the impact and consequences of our decisions have the potential to constantly change too.
No matter how strongly we feel about a particular issue, we must continue to learn about it to make sure our opinion is still relevant and based on the current facts and knowledge around the issue. We must remain open to evolving our opinions based on new (or new to us) information.
The need for this is even greater for leaders. Leaders must pay attention to the bigger picture, which includes doing the additional work to understand how various issues are connected. For example, being passionate about public education without also being eager to better understand the housing crisis will limit your ability to address issues in education. Or, put differently, being passionate about workforce development means also being eager to better understand the elements of a thriving arts and culture scene. In Indy, being passionate about economic development means understanding the history of sports as a key driver. Issues are connected. Leaders recognize that and connect the dots, and then they continue to learn.
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