I've Changed My Mind About a Lot of Things

Why Nino Mihilli Believes Strong Leaders Should Be Willing to Rethink What They Know

I've changed my mind about a lot of things.

Business strategies.

People.

Technology.

Leadership.

Ideas I once thought were brilliant.

Ideas I originally dismissed that turned out to be much better than I expected.

When I was younger, changing my mind sometimes felt like admitting I was wrong.

And nobody enjoys being wrong.

Today?

I think being willing to change your mind might be one of the most important skills a leader can develop.

Being Wrong Isn't the Problem

We're all going to be wrong.

The dangerous part is staying wrong because our ego won't let us admit it.

I've watched people defend bad decisions long after the evidence became obvious.

I've probably done it myself.

We become attached to an idea because it was our idea.

We invested time in it.

Money.

Energy.

Maybe we even convinced other people to believe in it.

Then reality gives us new information.

Now we have a choice.

Protect the idea?

Or pursue the truth?

I've learned to choose the truth.

Even when it bruises the ego a little.

Entrepreneurship Will Humble You

One thing I love about business is that reality eventually gets a vote.

You can create the most beautiful presentation in the world.

Build an impressive forecast.

Develop an elaborate strategy.

Then customers show up and say:

"We don't want that."

That's valuable information.

The entrepreneur who listens can adapt.

The entrepreneur who refuses to listen usually learns a much more expensive lesson later.

Flat Staffing Has Changed Over the Years

Flat Staffing started in 2018.

If we were running the company today exactly the way we operated in 2018, I'd be concerned.

We've learned too much.

Customers have changed.

Technology has changed.

The workforce has changed.

We've changed.

Experience should change the way you operate.

That's the point of experience.

You don't go through eight years of lessons just to keep thinking exactly the same way you did on day one.

AI Is Forcing Everyone to Reconsider Their Assumptions

Artificial intelligence is probably one of the clearest examples happening right now.

Things I thought would take years are happening much faster.

Tasks that once required hours can sometimes be completed in minutes.

Entire business models are being reconsidered.

And I think we're still incredibly early.

That requires intellectual humility.

I don't want to spend the next decade defending how business used to work.

I want to understand how it's changing.

That's part of what excites me about building technology through T47 Group and working on projects like Xsatori.

We're learning in real time.

And learning sometimes requires saying:

"Our original assumption was wrong. Let's build something better."

That's not failure.

That's progress.

Writing The Variable Required Killing Ideas I Loved

Writing taught me the same lesson in a completely different way.

There were ideas in The Variable that I loved.

Scenes I wanted to keep.

Directions I thought the story should take.

Then I'd read them again and realize they weren't serving the book.

That's painful.

Anyone who creates something understands this.

You become attached to your work.

But eventually you have to decide whether you're protecting your favorite idea or creating the best final product.

Sometimes improvement requires letting go.

Strong Leaders Don't Need to Win Every Argument

This may be where changing my mind has helped me most.

Leadership isn't proving you're the smartest person in the room.

If someone on my team has a better idea, I want the better idea.

I don't care whose name is attached to it.

At least that's the leader I'm trying to become.

Because the moment people realize their job is simply to agree with the boss, you've created an incredibly dangerous organization.

Good people stop challenging you.

Bad ideas survive.

Eventually reality does the challenging for them.

I'd rather hear it from my team first.

Faith Requires Humility Too

My faith has changed as I've grown—not the foundation of what I believe, but my understanding of it.

The more I study Scripture, the more I realize how much I don't know.

That's humbling.

Proverbs 12:15 says:

"The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice."

There's a lot packed into that sentence.

Wisdom requires listening.

Listening requires humility.

And humility requires accepting that sometimes someone else sees something we don't.

Conviction and Curiosity Can Coexist

I don't think being open-minded means having no convictions.

There are things I believe deeply.

My faith.

My values.

My commitment to family.

Integrity.

How people deserve to be treated.

Those aren't changing every Tuesday.

But having strong principles doesn't require pretending I understand everything.

Actually, I think the strongest convictions can survive honest questions.

Truth doesn't need protection from curiosity.

I Hope I'm Different Ten Years From Now

Here's something I've been thinking about lately.

If you meet me ten years from now and I think exactly the same way I do today...

Something probably went wrong.

I hope I've learned.

I hope I've discovered things I don't understand yet.

I hope someone has challenged assumptions I'm currently convinced are correct.

I hope I've become wiser.

More patient.

More faithful.

A better husband.

A better father.

A better leader.

A better builder.

Growth should leave evidence.

Final Thoughts

Changing your mind isn't weakness.

Changing your values every time life becomes inconvenient might be.

But changing your opinion because you've learned something new?

That's growth.

So I'm trying to hold two things simultaneously:

Strong convictions and open hands.

Know what you stand for.

But remain curious.

Listen to people.

Study the evidence.

Ask better questions.

Pray for wisdom.

And when you discover you're wrong...

Say it.

Change direction.

Learn something.

Then keep building.

I'd much rather admit I was wrong yesterday than spend tomorrow pretending I wasn't.

— Nino Mihilli

Stay Connected with Nino Mihilli

🌐 Personal Website: https://www.ninomihilli.com

🏢 T47 Group: https://www.t47group.com

👷 Flat Staffing: https://www.flatstaffing.com

📖 Read Nino Mihilli's novel, The Variable, on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GX3783RG

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