I have always been curious to the point of being annoying! I was that kid who always asked what does that mean? why does that happen? how does that work? And smile now that my parents answer was usually “look it up in the dictionary” or the “joy of knowledge”! Anyone remember those books?
But what is happening to curiosity? Are we all such animal lovers that we fear killing the cat? An HBR article entitled ‘become an octopus organisation’ reported that:
“Executives may claim they’re seeking curious and creative thinkers, but they clearly aren’t: One study found that while 73% of executives recognized curiosity and imagination as critical, only 9% of employees felt their leaders supported those traits, such as by encouraging them to be curious and to explore new ideas”.
I don’t know about you, but that stat shocked me! Curiousity enables us to ascertain what people need and what is possible, as well as fuelling individual and team learning. There is an imperative to shift the dial and make people feel like this behaviour/ trait is encouraged.
With that in mind, take time to think:
- The big issue you are dealing with right now, how curious have you been about the root causes? About others perspectives on it?
- How have you experimented with new ideas? (Noting if you try the same solution, you will get the same answer).
- How have you encouraged your team to be curious?
- Where is your opportunity to be curious right now?
As leaders, we can show our people that we are role modelling the changes that all of us want to see. Let’s be better and be the change – contact [email protected] if you would like help to do so.
For more articles, encouraging you to think and be the change – visit here.