Stop Seeing Black and White

Why Non-Binary Thinking is the Key to Your Success

Expertise—it's both a superpower and a straitjacket.

Sure, you built your business on your extensive experience and training. After all, that's how you became the expert your clients trust. The downside is expertise can make you surprisingly rigid in your thinking.

I've seen many brilliant entrepreneurs paint themselves into a corner because they couldn't break free from their either/or mindset.

Binary thinking, mentally sorting everything into neat little "good" or "bad" boxes, helps you make split-second decisions when the building's on fire. But running a business? That's messier.

Let's ditch the black-and-white glasses for a moment.

Non-binary thinking is about embracing the beautiful mess of reality. It acknowledges that sometimes the answer isn't A or B but "depends on the weather" or "both, but only on Thursdays."

Here's what makes this mental shift worth your time (and yes, it's going to take time):

You'll get comfortable with chaos. That's where the magic happens. When you stop trying to force-fit everything into yes/no boxes, you start seeing opportunities in the gaps.

Your bias bubble? It'll burst, and good riddance! We all love being right, but some of my best business insights came from being spectacularly wrong and admitting it.

Innovation becomes less about eureka moments and more about "What if we tried something different?" The next big idea in your industry probably lives in the gray area between "that's impossible" and "that's obvious."

Want to rewire your brain for this kind of thinking? Here are some real-world tactics that work:

Block out thinking time—but make it unorthodox. Instead of another stifling "strategy session," spend 30 minutes imagining how your business would work during the onset of the industrial revolution. Sound ridiculous? That's the point. Breaking patterns requires breaking the rules.

Build yourself a squad of devil's advocates—people who'll call you on your assumptions. And when they do, resist the urge to defend your position. Instead, get curious. Ask questions. Be wrong sometimes. It's surprisingly liberating.

The beauty of this approach is that it makes you a better entrepreneur and makes the journey much more interesting.

Because, let's face it, success isn't a straight line between A and B. It's more like a walk through a maze but with better stories to tell at the end.