By Gerry Murray. 27-10-2019
(Scroll down for a laugh)

"Question everything but be steadfast in finding and following true principles. Greater knowledge can only be obtained by allowing what you already know to sit in the background while relentlessly pursuing a fresh new way of seeing the issue and being willing to be 'wrong' about one's previous knowledge.” ~ Dr Dan Harrison

For over five years I’ve been working with a suite of excellent tools developed by Dr Dan Harrison. His Paradox technology is unique and provides individuals and teams with profound insights into their behavioural tendencies, their strengths and their potential blind spots. 

What Dr Harrison discovered through his research was that some behavioural traits that appear to be strengths can turn into de-railers if not balanced out by an opposite trait. At first glance, the co-existence of these two traits appears to be paradoxical. However, they actually operate as synergistic.

Opinions and Ambiguity

One example is how we form and hold opinions and deal with ambiguity. This is a function of two complementary, yet seemingly paradoxical, traits:

Certain: The tendency to feel confident in one’s opinions
Open/Reflective: The tendency to reflect on many different viewpoints

You’ll notice that confidence is an important part of how we form and hold our opinions. 

Dr Harrison groups these two traits into what he calls the Opinions Paradox. This Paradox is fundamental to how we build our interpersonal relationships. It also affects how we initiate things in our lives and has a bearing on how well we make decisions. 

Another implication of this is that when you are out of balance in this Opinions Paradox, you often fail to provide clarity to both yourself and others. As you’ll know from experience, a lack of clarity in a manager or leader is a severe weakness because people often don’t know where they’re going, what they’re supposed to achieve and what the expected standard of achievement is. In our private lives, a lack of clarity as a parent can have similar consequences. 

Over-confidence in your opinions and not being open to reflecting on the opinions of others can result in you being perceived as Dogmatic, even if that is not your intention! Once again, you can be perceived as out of balance. 

Therefore, it’s important not to view certainty or confidence in isolation but in relationship to its Paradoxical trait: open/reflective.   When these two traits are in balance, Dr Harrison calls this ’Truth Exploring’. This balance will have a positive impact on your interpersonal relationships and on your ability to get things started. 

If you’d like to explore your own levels of confidence in a safe space you might find it useful to attend my next seminar in November on How to have more Confidence. Full details here

Wishing you a balanced week!

Gerry

Humour

When a flat-earther finds conclusive evidence against their beliefs…
...it’s important for them to know that it’s not the end of the world.

What's the fastest liquid on Earth?
Milk. It's pasteurized before you see it.

A priest is on top of a house during a flood…
People evacuating came to him in a boat and told him to get in, he says "No, God will save me". So they left him and got out.
As the water was reaching his waist more people who were evacuating in a boat came to his aid. Again he replied with "God will save me”.
Now the water is at his neck he remains calm more people in a boat are rushing him to get in but the priest sticks with his words saying "God will save me.
As the water is at his face a helicopter comes down to save him, he refuses their help with the same statement and they are forced to leave.
So the priest dies and meets God "I had faith and belief in you, why didn't you save me?" To which God replies "Are you kidding me?! I sent 3 boats and a helicopter".