Why curiosity is good for your life and business (and how to fuel it)
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By Laura Kyttanen
How much are you willing to get more curious to fuel your imagination and broaden your perspective in order to elevate your potential?
Based on our Mindset Energy assessment results within the competency - ‘curiosity fuels imagination,’
73% of respondents agree that they can easily stretch their imagination
Yet, the majority of our clients seek coaching in order to expand their mindset - to become more aware of old conditioning and outdated belief systems so they can find more creativity, abundance and success in their business and life.
All of which, ironically, requires being curious and stretching their imagination.
Sometimes it is hard to see where our beliefs and perspectives might be limiting us. I understand and can relate as I reflect on my growth and transformation.
I also know the positive impact it can have on you, your business, your relationships and your life when you are willing to get curious about your beliefs and take time to see from a different perspective.
All of us were born with curiosity and imagination. In fact, studies have suggested that while our brains may experience decline as we age, our curiosity remains intact and may actually increase.
If you feel you could use a higher dose of curiosity and imagination, the good news is that its a muscle we can strengthen.
In this post we will identify what causes us to limit our imagination, what you can do for yourself and as a leader to give it a boost and the benefits to your life and business as a result.
Why do we hold onto beliefs that limit our imagination, curiosity and potential?
The most common is fear or uncertainty.
Joseph Cambell writes
“With the loss of them [beliefs] follows uncertainty, disequilibrium, since life…requires life-supporting illusions; and where these have been dispelled, there is nothing secure to hold on to, no moral law, nothing firm.”
For example, there still remains a “Flat Earth Society” on twitter which has members from all around the world despite scientific research that proves otherwise.
2. Familiarity is another curse of curiosity.
Getting comfortable with the way things have always been done - it may make our life feel easier, more convenient or even safer yet it limits our potential in so many ways.
In fact, I was recently on the phone with an operations excellence consultant who works with C-suite leaders of fortune 500 companies talking about the current recession and how a lot of leaders are reacting by tightening their budgets afraid of the current economic performance. I was not surprised yet hopeful to find a few leaders who understand the connection between investing in rewiring the brain and rethinking processes in order to invent new services or products which will help them stay ahead of or even accelerate past competition. He agreed especially since many big companies are making decisions for their products based on processes put in place decades ago. Unfortunately this type of approach will result in either losing significant market share, high attrition of talent, or worse, becoming obsolete.
“The gap between your mind and thoughts is where creative power resides.”
3. The other common reason is our environment
Our childhood, society and culture all play a role in squashing our ability to be curious. From a young age, most of us are taught to conform and learn the ‘answers’ instead of being curious and challenging what is written/spoken.
We worry about how others will respond or what they will think of us if we allow ourselves to be led by our curiosity. In the workplace this is unfortunately no different.
I often hear from managers of millennials or Gen Z saying things like “ why can’t they just do what we say?” Yet in the same breath they expect the employee to be creative, innovative, engaged and productive.
In a survey conducted by HBR, of more than 3,000 employees from a wide range of firms and industries, only about 24% reported feeling curious in their jobs on a regular basis, and about 70% said they face barriers to asking more questions at work. Yet, 92% credited curious people with bringing new ideas into teams and organizations and viewed curiosity as a catalyst for job satisfaction, motivation, innovation, and high performance.
When it comes to generational differences and curiosity, an author and executive coach, Becky Thomas, who works extensively with generational issues in the workplace, has found some interesting factors to consider: (1) the lack of safety can enhance one’s curiosity and (2) curiosity is heavily tied to the value the individual places on learning.
“The mind that opens to a new idea never returns to its original size.”
How could one become better at curiosity to fuel imagination?
Focus on the desired impact. What you could achieve in your business or life if you were to allow for more curiosity.
“Don’t give in to your fears. If you do, you won’t be able to talk to your heart.”
Asking questions like:
How could I possibly benefit from becoming more curious or stretching my imagination?
What does it mean to me? Why would I value this for my organization, team, relationships or life?
What could it feel like to get more curious? Where do I feel this in my body? What is the sensation?
Who could I become if I allowed more curiosity and imagination in my life? What could I possibly achieve? What might change in my life as a result?
When you focus on the impact first, you ignite feelings and create momentum of positive energy which inspires and motivates you to move past the fear.
2. The next step is to identify the root cause. Bringing awareness to the moments in your life which led to being less curious. You can do this by asking yourself questions like:
What is my earliest memories of being curious or having fun with my imaginations?
How did people react to it around me? What did I learn or decide about curiosity as a result?
How does this make me feel? Where do I feel this in my body? What is the sensation?
How could I possibly benefit from letting go of these fears and stories around curiosity?
3. Adopt a more curious attitude and apply it to your daily life.
One of the best ways to do this is to challenge your routine habits, processes and beliefs by expanding your perspective and looking beyond the obvious. Where you are on autopilot in your life or where business processes have been in place without question for a long time - you can choose to pause and take time to shift the patterns by observing them with more curiosity.
According to Bob Sutton, a Stanford University business professor who has written extensively about the power of observation, in order to see more, we must “shift our focus from objects or patterns in the foreground to those in the background.”
This kind of reminds me of the famous magic eye images where you had to concentrate on the image long enough to find the hidden image. How long does it take you to see the number 3 in the image above?
It also reminds me of the famous song from Frozen I “Let it go” (which, yes is on repeat at our house for my 3.5 year old daughter)…
“It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small. And the fears that once controlled me can't get to me at all. It's time to see what I can do. To test the limits and break through. No right, no wrong, no rules for me. I'm free.”
By taking distance from what we believe to be true, we often find ourselves seeing a new perspective. This is exactly what happens in coaching sessions when we are exploring events that have happened in the past in order to gain a new perspective on what is going on in the present moment. These breakthroughs ignite possibilities that didn’t exist before which not only enables transformation, it elevates potential creating massive impact in every aspect of their life.
In order to practice curiosity daily, consider asking yourself questions like:
What beliefs might I hold around a certain area in my business or life which I have always considered as truth and haven’t even questioned? What fear might be underneath this or why might I want this to be true? What if the opposite was true?
What if I were to find other people to challenge my views/beliefs on this topic which could potentially open me up to see things differently? How can I allow myself to be open and really listen to what I hear, letting go of judgments or assumptions?
What books could I read or podcasts could I listen to with pure curiosity on this topic?
Who could I be and what could I achieve if I were able to allow for my imagination to run wild?
Is there a way I could look at this topic as if I were looking at it for the first time? What might I see that I didn’t see before?
How would [anyone you admire] look at this topic in my business or life?
How might the beliefs I hold around this challenge be negatively impacting my habits and thus the impact I desire to see when it comes to this area of my business and life?
How could leaders enable a more curious culture?
Encourage it by role modeling curiosity yourself, challenging the way things have always been done, relooking at your own assumptions and beliefs which might impact the team and organization and using language such as “Let’s find out,” “I wonder,” and “What if.”
Create a safe environment focused on a growth mindset - encouraging curiosity and reflecting on ‘failures’ in order to use them as learning opportunities.
Make space and time for exploration and action - proactively plan moments in the week or month for imagination thinking.
Consider moving away from a hierarchical structure - reducing the red tape and removing as much ego as possible for ideas to flourish from anyone and anywhere in your team and organization. Read books like “Let my people go surfing,” “Maverick: The Success Story Behind the World's Most Unusual Workplace” for inspiration.
What are the benefits of expanding my curiosity?
Allowing for more curiosity has many benefits to one’s life as well as business.
For example, researchers Gary Swan and Dorit Carmelli conducted a study that showed, as we age, curiosity can add to the longevity (up to thirty percent longer) and a higher quality of life.
They went on to explain
“Those with higher levels of curiosity showed better coping skills with new challenges or new experiences. They were also more adept at establishing new friendships and showing new ways to solve problems. The adaptive value of exploratory, problem-solving behavior is fundamental to living longer.”
Stefaan van Hooydonk, founder of the Global Curiosity Institute, has looked extensively at research which shows that curiosity brings many benefits to the workplace, such as faster product development, coming up with better solutions to challenges, increased agility, and readiness to move in different directions. Curiosity also tends to attract inquisitive minds and can make a company stand out when competing for talent.
For teams, greater curiosity can increase efficiency and productivity, reduce group conflict and decision-making errors, and create an environment that is better able to accept new members into the team and embrace diversity among them.
In summary, given today's world of accelerating change where norms are being massively disrupted - assumptions and conforming are threats to your curiosity, imagination and ultimately your creativity. As a result, it can have a massive impact on your business and life to foster more curiosity to fuel your imagination and elevate your potential. Perhaps it’s time to look at areas in your life or business and challenge the way things have always been done.
