The way our minds are currently set may not be helpful to us. Luckily,we can incorporate different mindsets for a purpose-driven life, successful relationships, or better performance. In this series of blog posts, we talk about Mindset Models – starting with the Open-Minded vs. Closed-Minded Model.

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Why It Matters

Closed-minded people live in a black-and-white world. Generally speaking, they receive positive messages from people they like and negative messages from people they dislike. Any form of criticism cannot be explored because of the relationship with the sender of the message. This leads to all kinds of distorted world views and narrow-minded assumptions about how life works.

Open-minded people, on the other hand, live in a colorful world. They can also handle messages from people they dislike and disconnect messages from their senders. This means that open-minded people source more diverse information from a broader range of messages and senders. Thus giving them more choice in life.

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The Model

The following Mindset model was developed by the late Vera F. Birkenbihl, a German-born management trainer and author.

• Birkenbihl’s model focuses on two factors – the message and the sender.
• The message contains the actual information; the sender is all about the origin of the information. As such the sender can be a person, but also another source of information (e.g., news article, book,website).
• This results in four scenarios with various message-sender scenarios.
• The interpretation of the message and the sender is sufficient to decide if you’re open-minded or closed-minded.
• Additional aspects of interpersonal communication, such as tone of voice and body language, are disregarded in this model.

FourMessage-Sender Scenarios

Scenario 1: Positive Message / Positive Sender

Your BFF tells you that the new jeans look great on you. A colleague, whom you enjoy working with, gives you credit for a job well done. The best-selling book from this fantastic author reaffirms your long-held beliefs. These are examples of the first scenario. Put plainly, you receive a (positive) message you like from a (positive) sender you like.

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Scenario 2: Positive Message / Negative Sender

In the second scenario, you still agree with the message. This time, however, you do not like the sender. An example is a reasonable statement of a politician. You agree with the content of the (positive) message. But you do not trust the politician (negative sender) because you believe he would steal lollypops from babies if it would get him more votes.  

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Scenario 3: Negative Message / Positive Sender

Scenario three describes the opposite situation. You do not like the message, but the sender is okay in your opinion. Your BFF tells you that the new jeans make you look fat. The colleague, who you work so well with, critizises your latest idea.Your favorite author wrote about a topic you oppose. While you may not appreciate the content of the (negative) message, you still view the senders i na positive light.

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Scenario 4: Negative Message / Negative Sender

When both message and sender aren’t well received, we find ourselves in the fourth scenario. Examples are the taxman announcing increases for next year’s income tax and the colleague you’ve always disliked taking credit for your work.

The Bottom Line

The closed-minded person

• The life of the closed-minded person revolves around scenarios one and four.
• They receive messages they like from people they agree with (S1).
• They also receive messages they dislike from people they dislike (S4).
• Life is mostly black or white for these folks because of the nature of the messages and senders.

The open-minded person

• An open-minded person is able to leverage all four scenarios
• They can handle messages they like or dislike from senders they like or dislike (S1+4)
• They can also disconnect the message from the sender (S2+3). The open-minded person evaluates the statement of the crooked politician based on the value of the message, not the popularity of the sender. Criticism – constructive or not – can be explored regardless of the relationship with the sender.
• Life is much more colorful for the open-minded person as they source diverse information from a broader range of senders.

Forge Clarity Today

Which category do you fall into based on the Open-Minded/Closed-Minded Mindset Model? Are you seeking to understand information that doesn’t fit your current world view? Do you surround yourself with people of opposing ideas and opinions?

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