Curious people | Connected teams | Collaborative cultures
Why does curiosity matter?
In this increasingly polarized world, learning from one another is the key to a thriving and connected community. When people are encouraged to be curious, they hear “It’s okay not to know everything as long as you’re willing to learn.”
They feel safe to take risks, try new things, and persist in finding a solution.
That’s why we at CuriosityBased are committed to helping teams and organizations build a culture of curiosity.
How is curiosity a practice?
We think of curiosity as a practice, as something you do and have to continually work on. We don't think of it as a trait. We believe everyone is curious by nature, though some might be out-of-practice because of conditions outside their control, including a work environment that does not encourage curiosity.
CuriosityBased is committed to helping people practice curiosity, starting in the workplace, because that is where we spend most of our waking hours.
We liken curiosity to a practice that consists of:
-increasing self-awareness; get curious about yourself
-building relationships; get curious about other people AND let them get curious about you
-communicating clearly; listen and ask questions with curiosity
Sometimes it’s easy to practice, more often than not, it’s hard.
In any given group, if there are a greater number of people who practice curiosity regularly, their attitude can uplift the morale of a group. The inverse is also true. Those who are more often singularly focused on a fixed goal as their main measure of success can make their group mates believe their progress isn’t good enough. Those who find joy in the process of collaboration and in the people they are collaborating with are practicing curiosity.
At CuriosityBased, we don’t train or give lectures on how to be curious. We don’t think there is a single right way to learn. Instead, we introduce interactive exercises to help team members identify their blind spots for themselves so they can then practice curiosity with themselves and with others!
Curious? Read on.
