No matter what – life has to go on and we need to continue to work hard. As leaders, we need to find ways to keep the woes away and motivate people towards achieving goals.
When people develop the habit of genuinely exploring new ideas, they are more likely to find surprising, innovative solutions. They are also more likely to respond curiously to new information and situations, rather than shut down.
Employees who are intellectually flexible are able to respond to changing situations, to foresee and react to possible complications and identify solutions.
In the workplace too it’s the same people with the same natural inherent behaviour who work and you need to understand and accept that fact and work with it.
Curiosity is the expression of the urge to learn and acquire facts and knowledge. It widens the mind and opens it to different opinions, different lifestyles and different topics.
Curiosity is important for excelling in any job and doing it better, because you ask questions, learn from others, and look for ways to do your job better.
The mind of curious people is active. They want to know and to understand. This puts them in a better position to learn a job and do it better and more creatively, unlike a person who lacks curiosity.
You know the difference between a child and an adult. How can you activate the explorer as an adult?
Improved engagement
Curiosity improves engagement and collaboration. Curious people make better choices, improve their company’s performance, and help their company adapt to uncertain market conditions and external pressures.
When you promote curiosity within your business, no matter the size of your business, and no matter if your industry is explicitly a creative one or not, your employees will have a desire to search for answers.
When everyone, not just the owners or managers are creatively engaged, you’ll get a greater variety of perspectives when trying to solve company problems, which often translates to better, more innovative solutions.
Maybe there’s a workflow that just isn’t working. Perhaps you’re not getting a lot of leads, and you’re not sure why. Or maybe you need a way to improve on a product.
Curious people are compelled to solve problems of all types, and with a company full of diverse ideas, you’ll find it easier to face the challenges you’re confronted with and pivot quicker.
When you create a culture of curiosity, employees become more excited about their work and take ownership of what they produce.
Because employees in a curiosity-driven work environment feel empowered to explore ideas, they’re more committed to the actual work. Through this renewed sense of commitment, you can expect to see results that produce new opportunities.
Questioning is the way
Solutions are hard to come by in this tough environment. Curious people always ask questions and search for answers in their minds. Their minds are always active.
When you are curious about something, your mind expects and anticipates new ideas related to it. When the ideas come they will soon be recognised. Without curiosity, the ideas may pass right in front of you and yet you miss them because your mind is not prepared to recognise them.
Think, how many great ideas may have been lost due to lack of curiosity? By being curious you will be able to see new worlds and possibilities which are normally not visible.
They are hidden behind the surface of normal life, and it takes a curious mind to look beneath the surface and discover these new worlds and possibilities. The life of curious people is far from boring. It’s neither dull nor routine.
To inculcate curiosity back in you, you need to have a curious mind. Be open to learn, unlearn, and relearn. Some things you know and believe might be wrong, and you should be prepared to accept this possibility and change your mind.
If you just accept the world as it is without trying to dig deeper, you will certainly miss out on the opportunities. Try to dig deeper beneath the surface of what is around you. Ask questions and invite questions.
What, why, when, who, where, and how are the best friends of curious people. Whenever you label something as boring, you close one more door of possibilities.
Curious people are unlikely to call something boring. Instead, they always see it as a door to an exciting new world. Even if they don’t yet have time to explore it, they will leave the door open to be visited another time.If you see learning as a burden, there’s no way you will want to dig deeper into anything.
That will just make the burden heavier. But if you think of learning as fun, you will naturally want to dig deeper. So look at life through the glasses of fun and excitement and enjoy the learning process.
Don’t spend too much time on just one world; take a look at another world. It will introduce you to the possibilities and excitement of the other worlds which may spark your interest to explore them further.
One easy way to do this is to be interested in, reading and exposing yourself to diverse subjects beyond your favourite. This will allow you to feed your mind with the excitement of a new world.
When curious people fail, they analyse their failure, because they are keen on knowing the reasons, so they can do better the next time. This increases their chances for success.