Building Curiosity

TILP 35: Curiosity Development: Building A Culture of Inquiry

April 6, 2021

In this episode, Christy and David talk about curiosity development in an organization. They discuss what shuts curiosity down, why being curious as a leader is important, and what cultivates curiosity in an organization.

What shuts curiosity down. An organizational culture that is always right and isn’t open to new ideas works to only shuts down the curiosity. A culture that lacks innovation and creativity suppresses curiosity. Your ego and biases more often kill your ability to learn and to have a new perspective, blocking your curiosity.

Why you should be curious as a leader. As a leader in a 4.0 organization, you should be striving for curiosity, to not know, to be open, and to have questions as opposed to knowing and being competent. Curiosity supports your value and happiness.

Curiosity cultivation starts with you as the leader which allows the team to follow suit.

Listen in to learn more in-depth about curiosity and how you can cultivate a curious working environment as a leader.

What You Will Learn:

  • [1:27] How an unimaginative an uncreative culture shuts down curiosity
  • [3:57] How your biases kill your ability to learn and have a new perspective
  • [10:57] How power and control squash curiosity
  • [15:20] The 5 power and benefits of curiosity
  • [19:27] How you can either attract or shut down curiosity with your actions
  • [21:13] The excitement from the rewards of satisfying your curiosity
  • [28:38] Why curiosity cultivation in an organization starts with the leader
  • [29:57] The ways you can individually and organizationally cultivate curiosity
  • [33:10] Skills for leaders to be intentional about curiosity
  • [38:16] How curiosity gives teams the ability to play and come up with ideas

Quotes:

  1. “As you’re curious about something, you begin to engage people who are experts or have knowledge in that field.”– David [16:10]
  2. “Curiosity is the entry point for hobbies, interests, and passions.”– David [16:47]
  3. “Either you’re going to attract the energy because you’ve learned how to be curious, or you’re going to shut it down.”– Christy [21:06]
  4. “The perfect leader creates the need for a perfect team so there’s no space for failure.”– Christy [29:29]
  5. “The curious leader who’s asking questions and doesn’t know makes it safe for the team to be curious to ask questions and to not know.”– Christy [29:25]
  6. “Create space in your life for curiosity and play.”– David [32:09]
  7. “It is more important to give time for curiosity than to be massively productive all the time.”– Christy [42:06]

Possible Actions to Take

  • Listen to others’ opinions and ideas even when it’s something that you know to motivate them and learn from their perspective.
  • Allow play and curiosity in your organization which will, in turn, give rise to new ideas and creativity.
  • Form a culture of asking questions from the team and them asking questions.
  • Normalize not knowing in order to open up curiosity gates within the teams in your organization.

Books:

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

Connect with Us:

David Phillips: https://wdavidphillips.com/

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