Listening??

Almost everyone you meet has an opinion or viewpoint on almost everything. They usually arrive at these conclusions by listening to others and maybe even reading or studying the subject matter and that is where it normally stops. Once most of us reach what we feel is a logical conclusion on a subject we tend to close our mind and move on from there. Many times however the opinion or viewpoint of others may be totally different than yours. Is it worth your time to listen fully and maybe consider other options? Many times the person giving the view or opinion may have spent much more time or study developing that opinion or view than you have developing your opinion or view. Are you willing to learn from the folks who have researched and studied more than you? There is even the possibility that things have "changed with the times" and your "facts" have become outdated data - are you willing to consider that possibility?

This week at the Surfaces Show in Las Vegas I experienced this more than once. Several times folks entered our booth and voiced an opinion or viewpoint that may have, at one point in time, been accurate in their world, but has been factually changed since they last considered the situation. I had to smile (only on the inside so as not to hurt their feelings) as they defended their wrong belief just because they were unwilling to listen to and/or consider that there may actually be new or updated info that is worth listening to and considering that may materially change the facts that they currently accept. I KNOW I've been guilty of this in the past and wonder if you have also?

Someone very close to me has the annoying habit of interrupting others talking because they feel they KNOW what is about to be said and this damages all ability to communicate openly for this person and hurts the recipient's feeling. It is a way of saying: "I already know what you are thinking or about to say and it isn't important for me to listen any further." In reality very few of us (if any) actually have that ability to accurately mind read. The end result is almost always a shut down of communications as well as a rapid halt to the learning process that may be available if they would just listen.

If you think that YOU may be guilty of this, as I KNOW I sometimes am, I present this challenge to you. For the next week, please just try to refrain from prejudging your conversations with others, stop, reflect and truly listen completely and until the end, before considering what to say in reply. You may be completely surprised as to what you may learn. At the very least, you will ultimately confirm what you think you already knew and can easily smile in agreement with the speaker and continue building the relationship as opposed to closing the door to further communications.

Asking questions is considered to be one of the absolute most strong methods of learning, but it becomes useless if you don't bother to listen to the answer and give it consideration before turning your mind and ears off.

This is my thoughts on this subject - what are yours? I promise I will listen and not interrupt until you finish........