The Art of Unlearning — Part 1

Swapping Fear With Curiosity

The very essence of creating innovative new products or coming up with surprising brilliant solutions is approaching every challenge with a blank slate, a clean canvas to paint on.

So how do we do it?

I’ve been pondering the answer to this question for over a decade. Although there are endless tools, in this mini series of thought pieces, I’m going to share with you the ones I have found to be the most impactful:

Number 1 — Swapping fear with curiosity

As human beings we’re programmed to fear the unknown, that which is different to us.

This is a useful surviving mechanism.

For example when encountering a snake in the forest, fear can be a better tool than picking him up and being curious about the pattern on his back.

However, when it comes to solving human needs, curiosity is king. Actively listening to the person to whom we’re designing for is a good start. Being present, being open, observing their body language and giving them your undivided attention.

I want to encourage you to take it a step further.

When talking to another person, and assuming you got the first part right, meaning you’re actively listening to them, the conversation will quickly become candid and open. Then inevitably at some point they will say something that will raise resistance from your side, something that will press your buttons

This is a turning point.

Instead of being reactive and acting out of automatic fear, stop, take a big breath and transform that fear into curiosity.

Why is the person acting that way? What life circumstances led to that? What can I learn about them that would be completely new?

This is your chance to have a revolutionizing insight, your chance to come up with an ingenious solution that you could never have realized if you reacted from that all too familiar resistance.

Cultivating curiosity is what I find time and time again to be the most powerful tool in any creation and is the base to our workshop “The Art Of Unlearning”

So, what wonderful new thing are you going to create today?
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