Challenging conventional wisdom

In your mission to realise your vision, you are bound to come across barriers that you need to either find a way around or overcome. Sometimes these could be certain rules or ways of thinking that prevent you from taking a particular action that would accelerate you along your journey to success. Such obstacles can be created by conventional wisdom – a term used to describe ideas or explanations that are generally accepted as true by the public or by experts in a field. However, the term also implies that the ideas or explanations, although

widely held, are unexamined and, hence, may be re-evaluated upon further examination.

Many of us conduct and live our lives within the framework of these established principles of wisdom. They can govern our personal life, relationships, work and professional advancement. For many of us, they can have an overwhelming influence on the way we think and behave. This applies to both individuals and organisations. However, you must

acknowledge that conventional wisdom can limit your thinking and create boundaries to your aspirations. It can misguide your intentions and infer that some things are not possible, when in reality they are.

So when conventional thinking blocks your path, it’s important that you are not afraid to question it, with the aim of establishing whether it is true wisdom or simply dogmatic views on how things operate or are done. It is vital that you don’t take this kind of wisdom at face value. If you do, then you may miss out on discovering whether it is right or wrong, which could hinder you in your quest to realise your vision. Proving that conventional wisdom doesn’t necessarily hold true could remove a barrier that everyone else is having to overcome and so give you an edge over your competition.