Better<\/em> waters.<\/p>\nBut how can you increase the size of your net? The answer starts with the concept of curiosity.<\/p>\n
We all have a natural level of curiosity that guides how much we seek new information. However, the degree to which we exercise behaviors that demonstrate curiosity (a thirst for knowledge, asking questions, and thinking outside of the box) is largely in our control. That\u2019s great news!<\/p>\n
Organizational Curiosity<\/h3>\n
As individuals, we can determine our level of commitment to curiosity behaviors. But curiosity is also a characteristic of an organization \u2013 and it can be a lot harder to influence than individual curiosity.<\/p>\n
An organization requires a more systemic approach. Organizational curiosity doesn\u2019t just happen<\/em>. It needs to be nurtured, encouraged, and supported by the culture and systems.<\/p>\nTips for fostering curiosity in your organization – and for you as an individual:<\/h4>\n\n- Hire people<\/strong> who exhibit<\/em> curiosity<\/em> This is very easy to identify in interviews.<\/li>\n
- Recognize<\/strong> and<\/strong> reward<\/strong> the curious. Encourage the development of opposing views.<\/li>\n
- Provide prompts<\/strong> such as: \u2018What questions have we not asked?<\/em>\u2019, \u2018How would we do it if our current approach was not an option?\u2019<\/em>, or \u2018What would Google do?<\/em>\u2019<\/li>\n
- Ask questions<\/strong>. Yes, this sounds simple, but it\u2019s easy to fall into the trap of sharing<\/em> more than asking<\/em>.<\/li>\n
- Expect curiosity<\/strong> from every<\/em> function in the organization that you would like to improve – which should be every<\/em> function in the organization.<\/li>\n
- Cast your net in different waters<\/strong>. Think about the people you spend time with in terms of concentric circles. The inner circle is made up of people with common<\/em> interests (same industry). The middle circle consists of people with similar<\/em> interests (similar industry). The outer circle contains people with different<\/em> interests (different industry). Spend time in all<\/em> three circles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Albert Einstein said, \u201cWe cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.\u201d<\/em> We\u2019ll only change our thinking if we challenge<\/em> ourselves and<\/strong> our organizations to be more curious. Our sustainability depends<\/em> on it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Why Curiosity is So Important How often have you heard the clich\u00e9 \u201cIgnorance is bliss\u201d or \u201cCuriosity killed the cat\u201d? In reality, the benefits of an agile and curious mind have actually been proven by science \u2013 and common sense. Have you ever been in a situation where you stumbled upon something that you didn\u2019t …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[89,91,90],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":846,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841\/revisions\/846"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/a>Your sphere of awareness is like a fishing net.<\/strong> The bigger<\/em> the net, the more<\/em> you can capture. If you can find a way to increase the size of your net, you\u2019ll be smarter for it. The other way to capture more is to cast the net in an area where there is more<\/em> to catch. Bigger<\/em> net. Better<\/em> waters.<\/p>\n