How willing are you to change your decisions when presented information that could be counter to the original decision you made?

Our reader poll today asks: How willing are you to change your decisions when presented information that could be counter to the original decision you made?

• Very willing: new information means new decisions even after I’ve made them: 59.24%
• Somewhat willing: I have strong beliefs and it takes concrete new information to get me to change: 35.54%
• Not very willing: I have a hard time changing direction even in the face of new information: 3.48%
• Not at all willing: I want to see my decisions through and not be seen as being “wrong”: 1.74%

New information, new decision. Decision making flexibility can be challenging. We make a decision and share it with our teams. We own that decision. It’s hard to say “I was wrong” and change course when new information is presented because no one wants to be seen as “wrong,” especially in front of their team. Here’s a different way to think about it. Instead of saying “I was wrong” or “I made a bad decision,” say “I made the best decision I could with the information that was available at that time. Since then, I’ve received new information that requires me to make a different and better decision.” It’s possible to be right and be right again. This is a mindset you can adopt that will make it easier for the 40% of you who say you have some challenges changing your decisions.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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These results were originally a SmartPulse poll in SmartBrief on Leadership which tracks feedback from more than 240,000 business leaders. Get smarter on leadership and sign up for the SmartBrief on Leadership e-newsletter.