u003cpu003eu003cemu003eBy Claire Louge, Executive Directoru003c/emu003eu003c/pu003enu003cpu003eu003ca href=u0022https://pcaaz.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/pexels-rodnae-productions-5699180-scaled.jpgu0022u003eu003cimg class=u0022alignnone size-medium wp-image-11475u0022 src=u0022https://pcaaz.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/pexels-rodnae-productions-5699180.jpgu0022 alt=u0022u0022 width=u0022300u0022 height=u0022200u0022 /u003eu003c/au003eu003c/pu003enu003cpu003eu003cspan style=u0022color: #0c0c0c;u0022u003eThink of something that you know to be true. You believe in this. You have strong conviction you are right about this. You are passionate about it. You may even identify with this belief – it is a critical part of you.u003c/spanu003eu003c/pu003enu003cpu003eu003cspan style=u0022color: #0c0c0c;u0022u003eGot it? Now let me ask you this:u003c/spanu003eu003c/pu003enu003cpu003eu003cspan style=u0022color: #0c0c0c;u0022u003eu003cstrongu003eHow do you know that it’s right? How did you learn that it was true? And importantly: what, if anything, could change your mind?u003c/strongu003eu003c/spanu003eu003c/pu003enu003cpu003eu003cspan style=u0022color: #0c0c0c;u0022u003eAt a bookstore in San Francisco last month, I picked up u003cemu003eThink Againu003c/emu003e by Adam Grant. In it, he explains that the questions above, which promote metacognition (thinking about your thinking), are foundational to the practice of u003cstrongu003eopen-mindednessu003c/strongu003e. And open-mindedness is the essential ingredient for innovation, creativity, and collaboration.u003c/spanu003eu003c/pu003enu003cpu003eu003cspan style=u0022color: #0c0c0c;u0022u003eThese qualities are critically important in our field – the field of people who work to strengthen families and protect children. If we don’t question our own assumptions, or what we think we know, we may hold on to a belief that limits us from considering other ideas or options that may work better to achieve our ultimate goal: that all children are safe, nurtured, and thriving. When we don’t question our thinking, we are permitting ourselves to hold on to biases that we may not even realize we have.u003c/spanu003eu003c/pu003enu003cpu003eu003cspan style=u0022color: #0c0c0c;u0022u003eQuestioning what we know, however, can be deeply challenging. It’s scary to question our own thinking because our beliefs tend to be foundational to our sense of self. The stronger our belief, the more we will do to protect it from being changed. That protection usually shows up as defensiveness, aggression or shutting down – which are ‘fight, flight or freeze’ behaviors – behaviors that show up when our bodies sense a threat to our survival.u003c/spanu003eu003c/pu003enu003cpu003eu003cspan style=u0022color: #0c0c0c;u0022u003eTo rethink or unlearn something we have thought to be true can be u003cemu003eliterally painfulu003c/emu003e, but it is also u003cstrongu003edeeply, powerfully courageousu003c/strongu003e.u003c/spanu003eu003c/pu003enu003cpu003eu003cspan style=u0022color: #0c0c0c;u0022u003eRather than sticking to our guns and pointing those metaphorical guns at others who oppose us, when we are curious about our own thinking, and curious about other’s thinking, we leave the comfort of certainty so we can know a greater, more nuanced truth.u003c/spanu003eu003c/pu003enu003cpu003eu003cspan style=u0022color: #0c0c0c;u0022u003eAnd that is the key to collaboratively moving forward.u003c/spanu003eu003c/pu003enu003cpu003eu003cspan style=u0022color: #0c0c0c;u0022u003eIt is the key to changing the things we want to change.u003c/spanu003eu003c/pu003enu003cpu003eu003cspan style=u0022color: #0c0c0c;u0022u003eIt is the key to shifting what dissatisfies us with the status quo. Because I don’t know anyone who is satisfied with the status quo.u003c/spanu003eu003c/pu003enu003cpu003eu003cspan style=u0022color: #0c0c0c;u0022u003eWe want families’ needs to be met. We want people to be healthy. We want to prevent child abuse so it never happens. To make change for the better, it starts with questioning what we know, and being curious about how others think, especially if they have a different perspective.u003c/spanu003eu003c/pu003enu003cpu003eu003cspan style=u0022color: #0c0c0c;u0022u003eWe need leaders who are willing to do this. Since u003cstrongu003ewe are all leaders in our own spheres of influenceu003c/strongu003e, we can all practice this open-mindedness.u003c/spanu003eu003c/pu003enu003cpu003eu003cspan style=u0022color: #0c0c0c;u0022u003eTo open your mind takes courage – and we need that courage now more than ever.u003c/spanu003eu003c/pu003e
