Curious About Curiosity
Written by Matt Brocklehurst
The Oxford English Dictionary defines curiosity as, “a strong desire to know or learn something.” This is further elaborated by Merriam-Webster as, “a desire to know; interest leading to inquiry.”
Why am I curious about curiosity? Primarily, it’s because curiosity has always been a personal value of mine. “Be curious” is something I often think to myself and like to say when approaching anything new.
In this article, I will be exploring curiosity — the desire to know. Or, even better, the desire to understand. Are you curious to learn more?
Conversations
Say you’re having a conversation about a problem at work or a goal the business is trying to achieve. What is your goal? Really — think about it for a minute.
Here is how I would tackle this:
- Talk about the problem or goal
a. Understand why there is a problem or why the goal exists
b. Understand the perspectives of the other people in the room
c. Share your personal perspective
d. Reach a consensus on what you are solving for, as well as the outcome you wish to achieve - Identify the path forward
a. Understand the perspectives of the other people in the room
b. Share your perspective
c. Get an agreement on path forward and follow up items
As you’ve seen above, I have made sure to highlight the world “understand” repeatedly. Why? Well, from my experience, this is where things tend to break down when it comes to curiosity. If you are curious you will seek to know and understand the points above. This will help you to empathize with others, address their concerns and relate any agreements or differences in opinion you may have. That is my take on the subject, but what do the professionals have to say?
Expert Opinions
Larry Senn, founder of Senn Delaney — a culture-focused consulting company, came up with a concept called the mood elevator shown below.
What does this magical mood elevator entail?
At first glance, I can tell I do not want to find myself spending a lot of time in the lower levels of this elevator. More importantly, I am pretty sure the people around me would prefer to stay away if I were to sink to those levels.
“Curious” and “interested” happens to be right in the middle of Senn’s design. He found that if individuals can just get to a level of “curious,” that is the point at which positive interactions begin to happen. Where do you tend to be when you enter a meeting? What state are you in right now while reading this article? Seriously, are you still curious right now?
According to the theory, if you find your mood “in the basement,” try move up the elevator to curiosity. If you find yourself in the basement too often, there are strategies to deal with that — but that is a topic for another day. Senn’s book is also a great resource on that matter.
Assume Positive Intent
The final idea related to curiosity I would like to leave you with is assuming positive intent. Indra Nooyi, chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, articulated the power of assuming positive intent in a 2008 Fortune 500 magazine article titled, “The Best Advice I Ever Got.” As you may have gathered, the opposite of assuming positive intent is assuming negative intent. Assuming negative intent reflects the lower levels of the elevator. As we strive to be curious and drive positive interactions, a great way to achieve that is by assuming positive intent — every time.
Being curious and assuming that the people you are interacting with have positive intent leads to valuable learning experiences and builds trust in relationships. The best outcomes come from navigating differences, learning about opposing views and finding outcomes that address all perspectives.
Have a discussion, not an argument.
