What is open communication?

In my workshops, I often ask people “What does being open mean?” or “How do you define open communication?”

I get a lot of great answers, but last week I heard the best definition yet. I’m stealing this one:

Being open means entertaining the possibility of changing your mind.

Wow.

Mark Twain said “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”

This hit me like lightning.