‘A COMPELLING DESIRE TO LEARN OR EXPERIENCE SOMETHING NEW’
Rummaging around an old bookstore in London, I came across a bright yellow covered book, with one word on the front, ‘Curious’. The book, written by Dr Todd Kashdan, uses science, story and practical exercises to show you how to become a curious explorer, what he terms ‘a person who is comfortable with risk and challenge and who functions optimally in an unstable, unpredictable world’. It is a must read.
If you are to develop a mindset of curiosity, which, I believe, is closely linked to creativity, then you need to feed your mind with different sources of stimulus. I love to read novels and practise creative writing, for you it may be another activity. Perhaps it is something that you enjoyed when you were a young child or a hobby that you would like to spend more time on. It could be playing a musical instrument, dancing, acting, painting, playing a sport – whatever makes you feel like you are lost in another world. A world where there are no demands on your attention. I am not talking about the pressure of playing an instrument to pass exams, for example, but the love of playing an instrument just because you can, because it takes you to a place where there are no constraints.
There is something here about creating the space for this to happen. We know that many ideas are random, they come from nowhere it seems, and do not just appear in a brainstorming session at work. We are often under so much pressure to perform, to get things done, to make things happen, that we are chasing ourselves throughout the day, the week, the month, with rarely a second glance back at how we were doing all those things. The pace at which we were working, the frantic, meeting-orientated culture we are part of crams space out of our lives.
Being curious is also about not judging or labelling something too quickly or putting it in the ‘I don’t like box’ or ‘I’m not interested, it’s not my thing.’ We can develop a mindset of curiosity by not just discovering the new, but also by becoming reinterested in things and people that are familiar, to try and see with a new perspective.
If you are a parent or work with children, think about how you are nurturing curiosity. Luckily, I had parents who were non-conventional and who followed their own passions which, at the time, may have seemed detrimental to my educational development and at odds with the norms of society. Thankfully, it was the opposite. This is not just about fitting in the art class on a Tuesday night after school, but how you feed and nurture their young and open imaginations to be curious about the world around them and keep it alive, despite the often conforming nature of school.
For example, a friend has created a way for her family to learn about different countries by discussing the country’s customs, dress, language and culture. They try out new recipes and eat together, practising different words and phrases from the relevant language. When I was a child, every Thursday, my parents, sister and I had a reading evening where we would pick a novel and read aloud to each other around the table after dinner.Look around you. Notice how many couples and families go out and spend the whole time on their mobile phones. No discussion, no conversation, no social interaction. I know I have to stop myself reaching into my bag to scroll through social media sites, read emails or see if anyone has sent me a message. OK, we live in a connected world, but the compulsion is addictive and can be detrimental to the development of our curious, social selves.
In my speeches, I often talk about inserting the pause button, taking a deep breath, just stopping and watching, both yourself and others around you. This is not just good for being more present in life, it will also help your ability to think, to have new insights, as space is somehow, magically it seems, created and insights have room to percolate and bubble up to the surface. A curious mind is often a creative mind.
This brings us to the second ‘I’ of The Six ‘I’s of Innovation® which we will explore in the next chapter – ignite.
Want to Develop a Curious Mindset?
An orientation and attitude that has a fierce desire to explore, ask questions and to know more?
TRY THIS
- Resurrect an old hobby or an interest that you once loved to do as a child and rediscover it. Dedicate an evening or part of a weekend to exploring this interest and notice how it makes you think and feel and if it stimulates your curiosity.
- Pick an activity that you find unappealing or that you do not particularly enjoy, i.e. watching a sport you do not like, going to see a play that you think will be boring, listening to music that you do not normally listen to. Search for three things in the activity that you found unique or novel. Carry this open-mindedness throughout the week and see what else you notice.
- Next time you reach for your mobile phone (out of habit), pause and stop yourself. Time how long you can go without looking at it and stay present to the conversation or activity that you are part of. What is happening around you?
- Increase your observation skills: sit down on a bench for 10 minutes and just watch people as they pass you by. What do they look like? How are they acting? What does this tell you about human behaviour?
- When in conversation with other people, try to remain open to whatever transpires, without making assumptions or categorising them or the topics you are discussing. Resist the temptation to judge.
- When you are out this weekend, do not rush around. Slow yourself down and notice how you feel in your body. What sights do you see, what do you smell or hear?
- Find someone who is interested in something you have no interest in. Ask them questions; find two things that are novel about what they are saying.
- Try points 5, 6 and 7 for five minutes each and then increase them by 1 minute at a time, in different situations and with different people. Is more curiosity starting to emerge?
- Practise, practise, practise.
Make these curiosity mindset activities part of your life.
READY TO MOVE ON TO IGNITE?
Use this simple checklist to make sure you have covered some of the most salient points of identify.
| Activity | Complete |
| I have researched trends that are affecting my industry and feel like I have spotted an opportunity for innovation. | |
| I have thoroughly researched the area in which I want to innovate and observed real needs of customers through developing a customer persona (ideal customer). | |
| I have identified opportunity areas and have developed a clear customer insight which has a creative tension that needs to be solved. | |
| I have tried an activity that I have never tried before and feel my mind has expanded. I am actively building curiosity as a mindset in my daily life. |
To dig deeper into developing the skill and mindset refer to the resources at the end of this chapter, but first let us meet Rick Teo, whose highest score on The Six ‘I’s® is identify.