Is Curiosity a Necessary Leadership Skill?

"The important thing is not to stop questioning.?Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day." - Albert Einstein

I remember the first time I met my friend’s then four-year old daughter. She was wide-eyed and the word ‘why’ raced out of her mouth at the speed of 60 words per minute. She questioned everything she saw and heard. Why is the sky blue? What is the earth? Why do flowers have such a lovely smell and leaves don’t??

Kids are born curious. Luckily for her, her parents encouraged it and patiently satiated her burning curiosity to the best of their knowledge.?

?Yet, as we grow older, our innate curiosity seems to get systematically squashed. By the time adults start their corporate life, ‘why’ is almost a forgotten word.?

What is curiosity??

Curiosity is a strong desire to understand something. It is a trait that does not let you accept status quo. It makes you question things and leads to discoveries and learning.?

Over centuries of human evolution, it is the curious who have given the world some of our greatest discoveries and inventions. If not for the curious, we would still be living in caves foraging for food.?

Can curiosity be cultivated as a skill??

I wonder if you are curious about the answer to that question ???

The short answer is ‘yes.’ Curiosity can be cultivated. In fact, it takes some honing to develop the right kind of curiosity. Asking why for everything randomly is not the way to construct future paradigms. Asking the right why at the right time and deeply understanding the problem and the answers is the key.?

‘Why’ is not the only question for amplifying our innate curiosity. ‘Why not’ is equally powerful as a tool.?

I remember this hilarious story narrated by a friend. Her husband and she used to commute to work together, and the husband always took a set route. She knew there was a shorter route but did not think to question the wisdom of the husband. Finally, after many months, she asked why not the other route. His answer? “I don’t know. I never thought about it.”?After that, they changed the route and cut down travel time by over 15 minutes each way.?

Corporate processes are like that. Someone sets up processes and they are followed unquestioningly. But times change and processes become obsolete. What worked many years ago may not be right for the current time. It helps to question things sometimes.?

‘Five whys’ is a technique typically used for root cause analysis. It can equally be applied to build a culture of curiosity in product development.??

When designing a product, it is important to understand why and how a customer will benefit from a feature. Why will a feature change their life? Why will a customer be able to finish work faster because of a feature??

The more whys asked during product development, the more useful a feature will be for the customer.

Curiosity is at the heart of product development.??Why should curiosity be a leadership skill??Curiosity is a life skill at a product company. It is how great products are built.?

A leader sets the culture of the company. If leaders ask pertinent ‘whys’ at the right time, it builds a top-down culture of curiosity.?

Simon Sinek figured it out and delivered a TED Talk several years ago titled ‘Start with Why.’ In his 18-minute video, Simon Sinek breaks down what he calls the golden circle with why at the center followed by how and finally what. He says most companies and people work everything inside out. They start with what and never get to why.?

Once you understand the importance of asking why, you begin to see the pattern. Almost all great leaders demonstrate an ability to challenge status quo. They question rather than provide solutions. It gets employees thinking.??

Why this approach? Why is the response time 3 milliseconds, why not 2 milliseconds? Why is the customer not able to use this feature??

By asking seemingly simple ‘why’ type questions, leaders push the boundaries of thinking. To answer the questions, employees are forced to do dig deeper and do further research. Most often, this paves the way to innovation.??

How to develop a curiosity mindset??

As a leader, it is important to ask why. It is equally or far more important to encourage teams to ask why. Leaders must understand that they do not need to know all the answers. If someone asks why, answer it if possible. If not, point them to someone who can. If that does not work, figure it out together.??

Ensure that employees do not feel threatened to ask why. The only unacceptable answer to any ‘why’ is ‘that’s how it has always been around here.’?

As team members watch and learn from leaders and others, the culture of curiosity will slowly spread and become the DNA of the organization.??

Effective leadership is about sowing the seeds of curiosity and making sure it spreads across the entire company.?