Moshe’s Blog

7 Ways to Lead Better with Beginner’s Mind

How to Be Smarter by Knowing Nothing

It is so powerful to try something new that you know absolutely nothing about. Especially if you are used to ease, success, and mastery. Why? There are no preconceptions or trained behaviors to get in the way. You are left with a beginner’s mind that is full of wonder. It is a beautiful way to put love to work.

In business, the more of an expert you are, the less possibilities you see. Becoming myopic and judgemental are huge downsides of expertise. The cure is practicing beginner’s mind; you keep challenging yourself to start fresh, make no assumptions, and be open to the myriad of possibilities beyond the ones you know.

What in your life invites beginner’s mind?

Are you willing to be seen as an unknowing beginner?

Might you make beginner’s mind part of your leadership style?

7 Amare Ways to Practice Beginner’s Mind

1. Notice all you don’t know. What agape means, how purple got its name, why knuckles crack, etc. Appreciate how many things in work and life you can approach with a beginner’s mind, and find peace with not knowing.

2. Choose a brand new something. Select a simple topic or practice you have curiosity about, and no knowledge or experience. Approach it full of wonder and childlike curiosity.

3. Say “I know nothing.” It can be very liberating to admit to no knowledge rather than pretending you know. Notice how it feels when you say it and what reactions it elicits. Just don’t use beginner’s mind as a cop-out or excuse.

4. Practice good listening. Aim to learn deeply about a colleague or client with no pretensions. Ask yourself what you wonder about them and their situation, then ask them, with open-ended questions.

5. “Beginner” your business. Review the essentials with a beginner’s mind, asking “Why are we here? ” and “How does our business practice amare?” and “What are we not seeing?”

6. Watch for stories. Be aware of making up stories to fill in blanks when you don’t know something, then believing them as fact. Remind yourself it’s simply a story you invented, and replace it with the knowledge that there are many possibilities.

7. Play. Open-mindedness, efficiency, and productivity are enhanced, not diminished, by play. Start a fun committee, get some toys, do art, create a Beginner’s Mind Social, have non-business meetings periodically. More here.