At Amazon, employees are taught that good leaders "are right, a lot."

That doesn't mean your boss knows more than you do, or that their first ideas are always the best. Rather, it means the best leaders are willing to listen to an array of viewpoints — especially ones that might differ from their own instincts — and have good enough judgement to pick the best way forward, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a video posted by Amazon earlier this month.

Ironically, Jassy sees leaders get that concept "wrong" with some frequency, he said. An idea that comes from your boss isn't necessarily the best idea possible, he noted.

"We're trying to get to the best possible answer for customers, whoever's idea it is," said Jassy. A boss's job is often to get "the right people in a room" to give their feedback and ideas, so they can listen and weigh the potential options, he added.

The "right, a lot" principle "is very much a proxy for judgment," Jassy said — because it gets to the heart of whether you can listen to a range of diverse opinions and come to the best possible decision for a business, its employees and customers.

'It doesn't matter if it was your idea or not'

Amazon isn't the only company that values people who can change their mind. Steve Jobs' ability to change his mind quickly and often impressed his successor, current Apple CEO Tim Cook.

"This is a gift, because things do change, and it takes courage to change. It takes courage to say, 'I was wrong.' I think he had that," Cook said at the 2012 D10 conference.

Cognitive flexibility is key to learning, adapting and making good decisions, research shows. Being able to seek out and listen to a range of informed perspectives, and change your own mind when necessary, is especially important when you're exploring uncharted territory, Jassy said in the recent video.

"I often question my most closely held beliefs on a particular topic to see if they're really right," said Jassy, adding: "The key is to get the right people involved in giving feedback, listen to the different perspectives and then think about the best possible answer for customers or for the business. It doesn't matter if it was your idea or not."

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was known for wanting to be the last person to speak in meetings, when he was the company's CEO. He wanted his employees to voice their thoughts before he weighed in, so they wouldn't be influenced by his opinions — otherwise, everyone might just try to agree with him, Bezos told podcaster Lex Fridman in December.

Jassy employs the same tactic, he said: "In many of the best meetings I'm in, I never even had to express an opinion."

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