Curiosity Never Killed the Cat

I want to begin by sharing I am more partial to dogs than I am cats. However, for the context of this article, I needed a picture of my feline friend, not man’s best friend. I remember growing up hearing the phrase, ‘curiosity killed the cat’. As a parent I’ve even heard myself repeat this to my two very inquisitive daughters. The saying originated in the 1500's in a play written by Ben Johnson as ‘care killed the cat’. It was later adapted to, by William Shakespeare, in Much Ado About Nothing with the reference of attempting to stop someone asking unwanted questions.?

As children the development of a curious mind typically starts around ages two or three and continues into ages four, five and beyond. It’s about wanting to understand the world around them, which can seem big and daunting for a toddler. Even as we get older the world can seem quite big and daunting at times, and there are some days I don’t even want to adult.?Helping our children as well as ourselves understand the ‘why’ can help increase security and confidence and is the beginning of fostering and encouraging a growth mindset.

As the world continues to shift and change around us at a rapid rate, adopting a growth mindset is crucial in staying informed and current. Encouraging curiosity and learning is important to thrive and merely not survive in the future of work.

So how do we inspire this within our organisations?

?What is Curiosity?

Curiosity is a strong desire to learn and understand new things. It is key to learning and studies show that when we’re curious about a subject, we are much more likely to remember information we learned about that subject. (1) It can also be used to denote the behaviour or emotion of being curious. As a behaviour and emotion, curiosity is attributed as the driving force behind human development as well as developments in science, language and industry. (2)?

You can pick the curious people within your organisation and in life. These individuals ask questions, they read and explore alternative views. They are the active ones in seeking information and experience and are willing to broaden their horizons and delve deeply into the topics that interest them. (3)?

Living without curiosity makes life boring. Its presence makes you feel more alive and energetic and it keeps the mind strong and in good shape. That is why curiosity is an essential ingredient of a growth mindset. ?

Adopting a Growth Mindset

Our brain is constantly changing and has the amazing ability to reorganise itself by forming new connections between brain cells. This gives us the ability to learn and adapt throughout life. (4)

After decades of research, psychologist Carol Dweck, PhD, developed a theory that your mindset is a powerful tool for achieving behaviour change. She identified two main types of mindset: growth mindset and fixed mindset. Growth mindset is the belief that you can grow your abilities through hard work, a willingness to learn and being open to feedback. On the flip side, fixed mindset individuals tend to think, ‘my talents are what they are – I’m strong in this area, not so strong in that area, and that’s the way it is.” This mindset is less open to learning and more resistant to feedback. (5,6)?

As we know, we are mostly a blend of both mindsets. The one we use the most tends to be the one embedded in our brain. Those of us who have a fixed mindset tend to find it more difficult to try something new or make necessary change. In contrast, a growth mindset drives achievement and behavioural change with a viewpoint that says, ‘I can do this, I can learn more’. ?

Here are some helpful tips in developing a growth mindset:

1. Firstly, recognise and learn to hear your fixed mindset voice, “I can’t do this’ or “I’m not good at this.”
2. Respond with your growth mindset voice, “I might not know how to do it now, but I think I can learn to do it with time and effort.”
3. Welcome feedback, criticism and suggestions for improvement.
4. Take action and embrace challenges wholeheartedly.
5. Build a support network through coaching and like-minded friends for motivation and support.
6. Stop seeking approval from others and keeping focusing on your growth rather than how others are evaluating your progress. (4,7)

?Curiosity in Lifelong Learning

Now, knowing the importance of curiosity, it’s essential to keep developing it by keeping and open mind and being open to learning, unlearning, and re-learning.?This is the concept of lifelong learning. If we take things at face value and accept the world for what it is without trying to dig deeper, we will lose our ‘holy curiosity’. It was Albert Einstein who once said, “the important thing is not to stop questioning… Never lose a holy curiosity.” (8)

Seeing learning as something fun rather than a burden will naturally make you want to dig deeper and ask more questions. It will introduce you to other possibilities and spark more interest in exploring your world further. ?

Other benefits of lifelong learning include:

• Nurturing your curious mind and keeping up to date with a constantly changing world.
• Building new skills and improving those we already have.
• Opening our minds and increasing wisdom.
• Improving our memory and increasing self-esteem.
• Creating opportunities for a better job and other opportunities in life.
• Creating hunger for more knowledge.

Lifelong learning is not just formal and informal training, but an actual shift in our overall mindset.

In justifying my earlier statement and after digging further into why I like dogs more than cats is because they are more famous – think of Snoopy, Scooby Doo, Pluto, Marley, Beethoven and Hooch! Science confirms they make you laugh, they assist you in making friends, they keep you in shape, they can even smell cancer and can be trained to do cool stuff. (9) My two dachshunds are above and beyond my two besties, second to my daughters of course!

To complete the phrase, “curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought him back…”

… Satisfy yourself and be curious!

Article Sources:

1. Teaching Strategies: Sparking Curiosity in Learning https://www.waldenu.edu/online-masters-programs/ms-in-education/resource/teaching-strategies-sparking-curiosity-in-learning.
2. Curiosity; Wikipedia – The Free Encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity#.
3. What Is Curiosity and Why It Is Most Important for Success. Successconsciousness.com. By Remez Sasson.
4. Cultivate a Growth Mindset for Lifelong Learning. Thorne.com. By Brent Bauer, M.D., Mayo Clinic on November 30 2020.
5. The neuroscience of growth mindset and intrinsic motivation.?Brain Sciences. 2018; 8(2):20.?By Betsy Ng on 26 January 2018.
6. A Growth Mindset Unlocks Curiosity and Inspires Breakthrough Thinking. https://thereadyzone.com/2021/03/11/a-growth-mindset-unlocks-curiosity-and-inspires-breakthrough-thinking/. By Esther Weinberg on March 11 2021.
7. The Importance of Being…Curious. Anderson University. Adapted from Four Reasons Why Curiosity Is Important and How to Develop It, by Donald Latumahina.
8. Top 10 Reasons Why Dogs are Better than Cats. ?https://splashanddashfordogs.com/blog/top-10-reasons-dogs-better-cats/. By Dan J Barton on June 28 2017.