On social media, “change my mind” is often posted alongside a provocative opinion, but ironically, it’s rarely meant to invite real dialogue. In leadership, however, the ability to genuinely change your mind—and to build shared understanding along the way—is critical.

Why is that?

This idea resonates with the philosopher Hannah Arendt. Although I encountered her work in academic settings, I only recently started to explore it more deeply through a podcast. Arendt’s phrase “Ich muß verstehen”—“I have to understand”—underscores that individuals cannot make sense of themselves or the world alone. Shared understanding isn’t just important; it’s essential.

Arendt’s philosophy shows that evolving ideas isn’t a flaw—it’s a sign of authentic thinking. The same principle applies in leadership. We’re constantly trying to make sense of a complex context: our market, our customers, and our teams. When we share our thoughts and seek feedback, we refine our understanding—and that can unlock stronger strategies and better results.

So by sharing our thoughts and our viewpoints, our understanding of our context—an understanding we need to make sense of our business ideas—enriches.

How to do this?

My leadership is by no means perfect, as everyone who reports to me will explain to you, but here are a few things that seem to work.

Communicate rough ideas early. Many leaders wait until ideas are fully formed before sharing them. That’s a mistake. Early drafts invite constructive feedback and help you refine your direction before you’ve invested too much. For example, I share drafts of annual plans with all 10 of our teams—about 100 people—via Google Docs and Slack. This openness leads to new ideas and surfaces concerns that would have otherwise stayed hidden.

Focus on arguments, not just opinions. Changing your mind doesn’t mean swaying with every comment. It means taking every critique seriously and engaging with the arguments. When I shared planning drafts, I didn’t just gather input—I asked for evidence and gave mine in return. Explaining my reasoning helped me spot gaps in my thinking and made our plans stronger.

Share the road, not just the destination. If senior leadership only shares the final version of a decision, it can look like we always agreed or had a perfectly smooth process. In reality, our paths include disagreements and debates. By showing that, I reinforce that disagreement isn’t a problem—lack of it might be. Our teams saw me and my direct reports refine and challenge each other’s thinking. Sometimes, we reached consensus reluctantly, but we got there together.

Test ideas, even if you’re sceptical. I’m opinionated—my team would say “very.” But I’m also wrong sometimes. That’s why I make room for others to prove me wrong. For example, in 2024, a colleague proposed a new squad to focus on WooPayments questions. I was sceptical because small task teams don’t scale well. But the person was passionate and driven, so we set clear metrics and a short timeline. Within weeks, they showed it was the right approach—at least for that moment.

Arendt argued that shared understanding leads to a “satisfaction” or even a “homecoming.” In leadership, that’s what we should aim for: not rigid certainty, but a shared sense of where we’re headed and why.

And you?

How you navigate this in your work. How do you use a diverse set of viewpoints to build stronger strategies?

Change my mind!