Rekindling Your Curiosity
Welcome back to?Curiouser, our monthly newsletter with insights about leadership. This month's edition is about the?curiosity.
The Death and Revival of Curiosity
In 1968, a group of 5-year old children were given a test that measured their creativity. The results were surprising: 98% of them scored “highly creative.”
What was more surprising is what happened over the next two decades.
At age 10, the percentage of those children scoring “highly creative” dropped to 30%. By age 15, it was down to 12%.
George Land, the researcher running the study, later tested adults over age 25. Of the 280,000 participants, just 2% scored “highly creative”.
Creativity is a nearly universal human trait when we’re born, but it’s a rarity in adulthood.
This finding led Land to conclude that “…non-creative behavior is learned.”
Uncurious Behavior Is Learned, Too
Our curiosity is no different.
We’re a naturally curious species, as anyone who’s spent time around a 5-year old can attest. And much like creativity, our curiosity fades over time. We’re socialized to value confirmation and conformity over learning and exploration. Ultimately, our curiosity begins to wane.
Does this slow death of curiosity matter?
Top Skill for the Digital/AI Era
In short, yes.
Afterall, it’s our curiosity that drives us to seek new ideas and perspectives. It’s curiosity that pushes us to ask questions, solve problems, and create solutions. Being curious builds resilience and empathy.
In fact, think of a business skill or characteristic you value—learning, self-awareness, vulnerability, critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, innovation, happiness in the workplace—and you’ll find curiosity is a vital ingredient.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is creating an even greater demand for our curiosity.
Despite AI’s vast capabilities, our innate curiosity remains a distinctly human skill that AI has yet to successfully mimic. In a recent Harvard study of 1,500 business executives, curiosity was identified as one of the top leadership qualities needed as companies navigate digital and AI transformations.
Rekindling Your Own Curiosity
Just as we’ve learned incurious behaviors, we can relearn how to be curious.
Here are some tips for rekindling your own curiosity.
1. Wander Often. Wonder Always.
Creating space to explore ideas is probably the most important step to rediscovering your curiosity. Whether it’s giving yourself permission to go down rabbit holes on the Internet or making time to browse titles at the bookstore, it’s important to indulge your curiosity with random discoveries.
2. Seek New Challenges
Intentionally seeking new challenges will ensure you’re not sticking to the familiar. Consider a stretch assignment at work or start a new hobby. These experiences will teach your brain that it’s rewarding to be challenged by something new.
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3. Consume More and Consume Broadly
Reduce, reuse, and recycle doesn’t work when it comes to feeding your curiosity.
Find material that interests you and consume it regularly. Books, magazines, podcasts, social media—the medium doesn’t matter. Just make sure you’re consuming new and diverse material.
Create a Culture of Curiosity
Cultivating your own curiosity is one thing. Building an organizational culture of curiosity is a much greater challenge.
While a shift in culture is no easy task, there are tangible steps you can take to help your organization become more curious.
1. Model and Celebrate Curiosity
There’s no better way to demonstrate the value of curiosity than with your own behavior. By inviting diverse perspectives, seeking feedback from others, or challenging thinking bias, you’ll be modeling what curiosity looks like in the workplace.
Encouraging questions, especially tough ones, is another way to show you value curiosity.
SurveyMonkey’s former CEO, Zander Lurie, made questions a key feature in the company’s journey to build a culture of curiosity. Thoughtfully-worded questions earned spot prizes. And when employees saw a question they liked on their Slack channels, they’d respond with the hashtag #greatquestion.
These small but meaningful tactics helped SurveyMonkey create a culture where questions are not only encouraged, they’re celebrated.
2. Protect Time to Explore
If you want your employees to discover new ideas, then they need time to explore. As their leader, you can help ensure that time is protected.
Companies like Google, Atlassian, and 3M have famously given employees time to work on side projects. Whether it’s a formal program or simply creating meeting-free Fridays, you can help your teams find time to explore by creating more space on their calendars.
3. Teach a Curious Mindset
When we ask participants in our programs to describe what a curious workplace would look like, a common response is “lots of opportunities to learn and grow.”
At Leadership & Co. we believe in building skill sets and changing mindsets. That’s why cultivating a Curious Mindset is an integral part of our Core Leadership Program. Participants learn how to become more curious leaders who collaborate more effectively, think more critically and creatively, and speak more persuasively.
Whether you work with us or other learning providers, investing in robust learning and development for your workforce is indispensable to building a culture of curiosity.
Your 30-Day Challenge
Over the next 30 days, try doing at least one thing to cultivate curiosity in yourself and your organization. Here are a few ideas:
Stay curious!
- Leadership & Co.
Like what you read?
It's fascinating to consider how curiosity, while a naturally human trait, can be diminished through socialization and routine. This notion underscores the significance of nurturing curiosity, as it's a key driver for learning, problem-solving, creativity, and innovation.