Generating Curiosity

David Firth is a consultant, writer and speaker specializing in the psychology of human change, communication and corporate cultures. See David’s website for more information. From Smart Things to Know about Change (Capstone 99) by David Firth - reproduced with permission. In the summer of 2008, he also embraced change by moving from the UK with his wife and family to settle in Fort Collins, Colorado.

I don’t think creativity is the problem. I think curiosity is. I don’t think we’re curious enough – as individuals and especially as groups – to wonder why things are as they are or what could be different. Only when we can get ourselves into that state can creativity ever be an issue.

So here are 22 ways to stimulate curiosity in your organisation:

Always the beautiful answer who asks a more beautiful question ee cummings

1) Remember that the quality of the questions you ask determines the quality of the answers - and ultimately, through Action, the outcome. Compare the probable learning cycles generated by the two questions: ‘they always are so cynical; what’s the use?’ and ‘they are always so cynical; how can I learn more about their fears and doubts or motivators so that I can make a better attempt to persuade them next time?’ Or how about the difference between ‘there’s so much change about: what will I do if I lose my job?’ and ‘what can I learn here now which will increase my value whether I keep my job here or move somewhere else?’ Ask constructive questions.

2) Your outcomes are shaped by the questions you ask - but they are also affected by those you fail to ask. Challenge your people at every meeting: ‘what might we be missing here?’

3) Prod curiosity into being. Ask at least one person every day ‘How about...’; Have you considered...’

4) Even better, ask ‘What questions are you asking today?’

5) You can kill curiosity by threatening or appearing to threaten. How much is yours a culture of ‘be right first time’. How OK is it to display ignorance or say ‘I don’t know’?

6) How relaxed and playful is your culture? How patient and forgiving? Are mistakes learnt from and laughed at (in time) - or are they held over people like an axe? If people cannot be themselves, if they are constantly fighting to maintain an Ego mask of invincibility or expertise, then you will not get curiosity. Think of your own curious childhood, nagging your parents with ‘why, why, why?’. If at any time your parents turned round and said: ‘you stupid child, how come you don’t know that already?’ or ‘you asked exactly the same thing last week, don’t you ever learn anything?’ or ‘stop bothering me, I have something far more important to do’ or ‘I’m beginning to think your sister’s right. You are beyond hope - I’m going to take you back to where we got you and ask for a replacement’ then they would have killed stone dead your curiosity. (By the way, if your childhood was like that, I‘m sorry to have used you as a case study. I’ll get your permission for the next edition).

7) How positive is your culture? How easy is it to know what’s working well rather than what’s failing or struggling? People often focus on the negative or bad news - think of the nature of the rumour network - and it’s amazing how companies simply play into that fact by majoring there. How much good news does your company notice board or bulletin board have? How much info is there on contracts won, customers retained, brave decisions taken, corporate principles or values defended, extraordinary service acknowledged? And another very simple test of how positive your culture: how often do your meetings begin with the question: ‘Tell me - what’s going well around here?’

8) Are the stars in your company resting on past achievements and knowledge or always looking for new learning?

9) Consider how much your systems and processes reflect all this. How much opportunity do your recruitment interviews, for example, give for candidates to display their curiosity? How much genuine, unforced curiosity, do you show towards them?

10) Ask people what they want. Give them that to the best of your ability. Keep asking them what they want. This is the first principle of motivation (and staff retention)

11) Ask people what they need to learn in order to play their part better in moving the company towards its Vision. Provide it. This is the first principle of staff development

12) How open are you to questioning? If some asks you to explain yourself, are you defensive, dismissive, judgmental?

13) Give people formal time to share expertise, experience and learning.

14) Maximise diversity. Mix genders, races, persuasions, viewpoints. Prepare to take people to a level of understanding above any immediate conflict that may arise. And make sure you do have diversity and not homogeneity, which is a curiosity killer. I went to an international conference once. The organisers kept telling us how proud they were of bringing together such a diverse group of people. I looked around. We were all pretty much middle class, 35-50, chiefly white. What they meant was that some of us had travelled a long way to be there, but that isn’t diversity. We learnt little at that conference because we were preaching to each other, and we were already converted.

15) Make time for job swaps or sharing or rotation. Everybody gets a day on the help desk. Everybody gets a day shadowing the boss.

16) Demonstrate that everything in your company is transitory (which it is) and up for change. Since nothing lasts for ever, encourage people to challenge even the most established practices. Ask ‘Can we do it better?’ about everything, regularly.

17) Present information in interesting ways and with context and relevance. Every piece of data should have a clear implication, and a clear set of considerations that need to be given to it. ‘Here’s our stock flow forecast. This means X,Y and Z. What we need to do because of it is A, B and C. Any suggestions?’

18) People deaden their own curiosity through low self esteem - so be generous (and specific) (and honest) (and public) in your praise.

19) People deaden their own curiosity through a belief that someone else is actually going to do the work or get the kudos. Learn to delegate well - both authority and responsibility - so that people have to stretch themselves to achieve the goal. Make it clear that your delegation sets the ‘what’ and the ‘by when’ and ‘with what priority’ and ‘to what standard’ (and always checks: ‘is that all clear and understood?’) but not the ‘how’. If they ask you ‘how?’ - say ‘I dunno - go and find out.’

20) People deaden their curiosity when they can’t understand. Train everyone in attentive listening skills and learning how to learn.

21) People deaden their curiosity when they can’t present their ideas well. Train everyone in first class communication and presentation skills.

22) People deaden their curiosity when they lose a sense of wonder about what is happening around them. Make work an adventure. Set huge goals. Encourage big dreams. Take risks. Have fun. In other words, allow people to realise their potential, instead of restricting human potential to the most persistent fears and ingrained habits.

Never lose a holy curiosity Albert Einstein