Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos

Here’s some interesting advice from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos: People that are right a lot of the time often change their minds.

Bezos chatted with 37signals, a web-based software developer for individual and small businesses, and took random questions for 45 minutes from the employees.

He brought up some intriguing ideas about people who make the right decisions, and it might surprise you.

Consistent decision-making is often perceived to be a strong trait in leaders who don’t seesaw with their thought paths. People who change their views all the time might be looked at as weak and as someone who you can’t really trust.

But Bezos says that it’s encouraged to have ideas and opinions that contradict what you said yesterday.

From the blog post at 37signals’ site:

He’s observed that the smartest people are constantly revising their understanding, reconsidering a problem they thought they’d already solved. They’re open to new points of view, new information, new ideas, contradictions, and challenges to their own way of thinking.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a well formed point of view, but it means you should consider your point of view as temporary.

What trait signified someone who was wrong a lot of the time? Someone obsessed with details that only support one point of view. If someone can’t climb out of the details, and see the bigger picture from multiple angles, they’re often wrong most of the time.

Great advice.

So what do you think? Is it good for people to constantly change their minds, or would you be frustrated with a leader that you can’t expect consistency from…

Previously on GeekWire: Jeff Bezos says patent fight may ‘stifle innovation’

 

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