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Learning to adopt and maintain a naive mind can be a great tool, but it’s not without problems.
Let’s face it. When adapting to a new situation (or new world for that matter) nothing beats the naive mind. But there’s a bit of a problem: It’s horribly inefficient for actually doing anything. In fact, the totally naive mind (also known as an infant) doesn’t have the concept of actually doing anything to alter the situation around them. The universe simply is what it is.
Obviously, that’s not going to be a problem if you’re just emulating a naive mind, but even so there would be a huge problem if you had to take time out of a busy day to put on your mental “naive mind” suit and then explore. In order to get things done, we use and need our mental filters and patterns of thought. What do we do? Let’s take a look at our new property manager from last time:
Realizing that she’s missing some critical data, she has decided to block out a few days for simply observing. As she goes through this process, she learns that in addition to this property being a business, it is also a community for those who live there. Recognizing this, and seeing where her thought patterns failed, she decided to be more active and positive in the community. The result? Much happier residents. A better environment, which means that occupancy is high and stays that way. The bottom line? More money! 
“To stay young requires unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods.”
-Robert Heinlein
The more you get to know yourself, the more you will recognize where your filters are deceiving you. This is little different from compensating for rain on your windshield. If you know a filter is lying to you, you compensate. Over time, compensating for the filter actually becomes part of the filter.
Having spent some time and learned from this job, our property manager is now more effective than ever before. She’s a positive and visible part of the community, making sure that everything goes smoothly. She is still tough when she needs to be, but at the same time she realizes that to succeed in this environment, it is cooperation, not competition, that gets you ahead.
“The hardest part of gaining any new idea is sweeping out the false idea occupying that niche.”
-Robert Heinlein
Is it ever 100% No. However, learning yourself well will allow you to function in a variety of situations with both the ability to step beyond your mental blinders a bit, and you will be even better at “getting it done” because you will have optimized your processes and you’ll know your limits. Having the advantages of the naive mind with the benefit of experience will make for a powerful one-two punch.
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