3 Ways to Strengthen Your Curiosity at Work
by Holly Mandel
Why One of the Most Valuable Workplace Skills Starts With Asking Better Questions
Recently, we were working with a leadership team that was struggling with communication. Projects were moving slower than expected, frustration was building, and people seemed to be talking past one another rather than with one another.
As we dug deeper, it became clear that the issue wasn't a lack of talent or experience. The challenge was that people had stopped being curious. Instead of asking questions, they were making assumptions. Instead of seeking to understand, they were filling in the blanks. What looked like certainty was often just a story someone had created about what they thought was happening.
It's something we see often -- lots of us, when under pressure especially, feel the need to know, have the answer, be the expert. And, to compound it, most workplaces reward decisiveness and people get to the answer first. Those qualities certainly have value. However, research continues to show that curiosity is one of the strongest predictors of learning, innovation, adaptability, and even stronger relationships at work.
Harvard Business School professor Francesca Gino, who studies curiosity and organizational performance, put it this way:
"Curiosity is at the heart of innovation and organizational performance."
The good news is that curiosity isn't something you're born with or without. Like any skill, it can be practiced and strengthened.
1. Replace Assumptions with Questions
One of the fastest ways to improve communication is to notice when you're assuming rather than asking.
We assume we know why a colleague responded a certain way. We assume we understand a client's priorities. We assume we know what someone meant in a meeting.
Curiosity invites us to pause and gather more information before deciding we know the whole story.
A simple question often reveals that the situation is more nuanced than we originally thought.
2. Stay in the Question a Little Longer
Many of us are conditioned to solve problems quickly. We hear an issue and immediately begin generating solutions.
Curious people take a different approach. They spend a little more time understanding the challenge before jumping into action.
One of the reasons improvisation is such a powerful development tool is that it encourages people to remain present with what's unfolding rather than rushing toward a predetermined outcome. That same mindset can lead to better decisions, better ideas, and better collaboration.
3. Get Curious During Moments of Tension
When we receive feedback, encounter disagreement, or face resistance, our natural instinct is often to defend our position.
Curiosity gives us another option.
Instead of focusing on how to prove our point, we can focus on understanding the perspective in front of us. Questions like "What am I not seeing?" or "What might be true from their point of view?" can transform the quality of a conversation.
In our experience, some of the strongest relationships are built not because people avoid disagreement, but because they stay curious through it.
Curious How Curiosity Can Help Your Teams?
Many of the skills organizations are focused on developing right now -- adaptability, collaboration, innovation, emotional intelligence, and leadership -- have something important in common.
They all begin with curiosity -- being interested in what you don't already know and being vulnerable enough to stay in the uncertain.
In a world that often rewards certainty, curiosity may be one of the few skills that helps us continue learning, growing, and connecting with others. And fortunately, it starts with something surprisingly simple:
Ask one more question.
If your team could benefit from expanding their comfort zones around curiosity, or improving their communication, collaboration, and adaptability, we'd love to help. At iMERGENCE, we use experiential learning and improvisation to help teams strengthen the human skills that matter most.