The Future Belongs to People Who Can Change Their Minds

The power of flexible thinking—and how to practice it daily

We rarely find solutions by winning an argument. It comes from finding the thin strip of common ground where people with different beliefs decide to work together anyway. 

We saw this firsthand in our Citizen Solutions session in Austin, Texas. Participants came from very different backgrounds and carried very different political instincts into the room. They were brought together for a panel to address the state’s healthcare crisis, including the uninsured rate, which is the highest in the country, and how to turn their ideas into practical solutions.

At first, the differences felt like barriers. But once people chose to be flexible thinkers instead of fixed defenders of their side, something shifted. They moved from debating ideology to developing innovative ideas, including expanding telehealth services, addressing healthcare deserts in rural areas, and reducing the burden of medical debt. 

 “I decided to agree with most of the initiatives and even some that go against my Libertarian beliefs,” said one of the participants, Jay Shoesmith, a salesperson from Longview, Texas. “I justify this because we can’t just leave a good portion of Texans without affordable and accessible healthcare.”

That’s what solving problems looks like in real life. Not perfect consensus. But people willing to change their minds enough to move forward together.

What flexible thinking is

Flexible thinking is the ability to update your beliefs when new information appears. It means holding opinions with confidence, but not with rigidity. Instead of seeing change as a threat, flexible thinkers treat it as a learning opportunity

Psychologists often describe this as cognitive flexibility: the capacity to shift perspectives, adapt to new rules, and revise assumptions. The American Psychological Association defines it as a key part of healthy problem-solving and emotional resilience.

This does not mean being indecisive or abandoning values. It means distinguishing between principles and positions. Principles—like fairness, safety, or freedom—tend to endure. Positions—the policies or strategies we use to express those values—sometimes need revision.

Carol Dweck’s research on the growth mindset captures this idea well: people who believe they can learn and adjust outperform those who believe ability and understanding are fixed.

Flexible thinking, at its core, is intellectual humility paired with curiosity. It is the discipline of saying, “I might be wrong—and that’s okay.”

How to practice flexible thinking in daily life

Flexible thinking is not a personality trait. It is a habit. And like any habit, it can be trained. Here are some ways you can do just that.

1. Separate identity from opinion.
   In his book, Ego Is the Enemy, Movement Partner Ryan Holliday argues that a desire to always be right is a manifestation of an unchecked ego, which prioritizes validation over truth, learning, and progress. Instead of thinking, “If I change my mind, I lose,” try, “If I learn something new, I grow.”
2. Replace reflex with reflection.
   When you feel defensive, pause and ask: What new information is challenging me right now?
   In meetings, this might mean listening fully before responding. In family arguments, it might mean asking, “What’s your experience been?” instead of immediately countering.
3. Practice “steel-manning.”
   Try summarizing the best version of a viewpoint you disagree with before stating your own. This technique is often referred to as steel-manning, and it’s the conceptual opposite of strawmanning. Steel-manning forces you to understand the strongest version of an opposing view, which leads to smarter thinking, fairer conversations, and decisions based on clarity rather than caricatures.
4. Build a diverse information diet.
   Pew Research finds that people who consume varied news sources are less likely to fall into ideological certainty traps. Read outside your lane. Follow people you respect who disagree with you. Treat difference as data.
5. Normalize changing your mind publicly.
   Leaders who say, “Here’s what I believed—here’s what I learned—here’s why I changed,” build trust, not weakness. Transparency increases credibility.
6. Spend time with people who don’t think like you.
   Ideas can be debated. Experiences are harder to dismiss. When you build real relationships across differences, issues stop being abstract and start being human. That shift often does more to open minds than any argument ever could.

Flexible thinking is no longer optional. It is the operating system for a world that will not slow down.

The people who thrive in the future will not be the loudest or the most certain. They will be the ones who learn the fastest, adapt thoughtfully, and stay humble enough to evolve.

Changing your mind is not an admission of defeat. It is progress in motion.

—Alex Buscemi (abuscemi@buildersmovement.org)

Art by Matthew Lewis

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