Curiosity Didn’t Kill The Cat
It Helped It To Thrive
Even after all these years, fall still reminds me of school and that it’s time to get back to learning after the easier flow of summer. Yet as we spend years in the workforce, we’re rewarded for specializing and “knowing” our field, which can inadvertently make us less in contact with learning new things. I was struck that during my coaching certification many years ago we had an assignment to learn something new, both as a practice of being a novice, and to also build compassion for the challenges others experience when in a coaching program since there is often much new learning.
One area where I’ve recently been practicing that is by taking a wheel pottery class. I have visions of my skillfulness looking like something out of the movie Ghost where Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze sensually make pottery together, but the reality is far from it. (See the clunky photo of my first bowls). And yet, there is also freedom in being a beginner. I don’t have any expectations that I need to excel, and in fact, the whole first session, I kept exclaiming “It looks like a bowl!”, even if it was far from perfect. In addition, I’ve had two other learning opportunities fall in my lap: I recently started watching a free class from Yale University on YouTube titled the History of Modern Ukraine. (Don’t yawn, it’s really quite compelling!). And a colleague recommended a Positive Intelligence program that fits into the coaching work I do. How about you? Where is your next learning edge?
The Benefits of Curiosity
I’ve been working with a couple of leadership teams for the past year, and one pattern I am continuously reminded of is the importance of one’s curiosity as an indicator of the likelihood of growth and development through a leadership development process. According to the VIA Institute of Character, the strength of curiosity is defined as:
“To be curious is to explore and discover, to take an interest in ongoing experience for its own sake. Curiosity is often described as novelty-seeking and being open to experience, and it’s associated with the natural desire to build knowledge. It is fulfilling to journey toward an answer, to engage in a new experience, or to learn a new fact. To go to a new restaurant, visit a new city, meet a new person in your class, or to conduct an online search for a question can each fulfill your quest for new experiences and new information.”
There is a visible mindset difference between a person with greater curiosity and someone with less. The former sees differences as opportunities for learning, and the latter often has more of an “I’m right, you’re wrong” position, which can cause real problems in relationships at home and in the workplace. Emily Campbell in her article titled, “Six Surprising Benefits of Curiosity”, writes that curiosity:
1) Helps us survive by gaining new information about our constantly changing environment.
2) Helps us be happier as curiosity is associated with higher levels of positive emotions.
3) Boosts achievement since curiosity leads to more engagement and participation in one’s learning.
4) Expands our empathy to better understand people outside our usual social circle.
5) Helps strengthen relationships since people are perceived as warmer and more attractive if they showed real curiosity in conversation.
6) Improves healthcare! When doctors are genuinely curious about their patients’ perspectives the effectiveness of treatment increases.
So how do we shake things up to see with fresh eyes and build more curiosity?
Check your mindset: The old adage “You can’t teach old dogs new tricks” isn’t true. New research shows that our minds can learn throughout our lifetime, so perhaps the goal shouldn’t be to just maintain our cognitive function but to focus on mentally growing through learning new skills.
Seek novel experiences: Whether that’s trying a new class, a new lunch spot, or driving home a different way, the brain rewards novel activity and craves surprises. A bonus of novel experiences is that they slow down time. It’s one of the reasons why our childhood seems so long-- because everything was new. And why spending a workweek in the same cubicle, eating the same lunch, with the same routine can blur and we don’t realize the week has flown by, whereas a week on vacation with different activities each day makes it seem longer.
Practice: Research shows that our personalities are not as fixed as we might think they are. While genetics account for 30-60% of our innate personality, that still leaves a lot of variability on the “nurture” side of things. As adults, the practices we partake in every day “nurture” who we become. So, if you’d like more openness to experience, you have to bring attention and action to those behaviors on a regular basis. I encouraged a client to end his showers with thirty seconds of cold water as a practice of being uncomfortable. Over time, he has found that this small practice has helped him take uncomfortable action in other areas of his life.
I encourage you to get curious about being curious. Good luck! I’d love to hear what new things you’re trying! Drop me a note!
Great Link
An inspiring clip on the wonder of the world, titled Curiosity (2:09)
Reflection Exercise: Moving From Theory to Action:
To support you cultivating curiosity:
What is your relationship with being a beginner?
What is a positive mindset you might hold that would support you in being unskillful at something?
Is there something you have been wanting to learn? Brainstorm a list and identify something you might take on in the near future. What are the next steps? (research classes, etc.?)
How might you bring more “novel experiences” in your life? Brainstorm a list. (Check out this site listing 101 new experiences for ideas.)
When can you schedule some learning and novel experiences into your calendar? How might you make this a regular practice of some kind? (a new restaurant once a month? Take a class once a year? Try a new hike once a quarter? You get the idea).
Quarterly Quote
Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one's self-esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily. -Thomas Szasz
Book Review
A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life
By: Brian Grazer
Brian Grazer is a Hollywood producer (Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, Friday Night Lights) who lives curiosity as a core value. Through this book he recounts how curiosity has been the fuel for his success as a producer, friend, boss, businessman and even dinner guest. His perspective is simple: “The more I know about the world-the more I understand about how the world works, the more people I know, the more perspectives I have- the more likely it is that I’ll have a good idea.” I really enjoyed his deep dive into the topic, and perhaps one of the biggest takeaways I got is what he calls “Curiosity Conversations” where he invites people he’s interested in knowing more about to a twenty-minute conversation. He’s met with people such as Fidel Castro, Former CIA Director William Colby, and Olympic gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee. An inspiring read to approach life with a lens of curiosity.