Let’s Get Curious: Your Team Might Know the Answer Already
“Ah! With a splash of wonder, what would our company roundtables and town halls be? So much more interesting and invigorating, yes?”
—Libby Wagner
I’ll age myself here to say that as I was pondering the importance of curiosity in an organizational journey and ultimately culture, Olivia Newton John’s 80s pop hit, “Let’s Get Physical,” infiltrated my brain. (Search for it; you might curse me for its catchy aerobics-inspired tune, or you might go in search of your long-lost leg warmers.)
Anyway, I’ve long talked with my clients about the fine line between confidence and arrogance and why we want the former and detest the latter. A confident leader is sure, grounded, embodied. We want to listen or follow because they make us feel confident in ourselves and are open to us. Although often having confidence, an arrogant leader has no space for growth, development, or evolution—because they already know everything. They shut us down and often, despite their knowingness, miss invitations to innovation and creativity in their organizations. The differentiator is curiosity and, dare I say, wonder.
One of my favorite essays of all time is David James Duncan’s “Wonder. Yogi. Gladly [1],” where, after being asked by an upcoming audience, he shares his surprising personal faith roots. He says, “Philosophically speaking, wonder is crucial to finding knowledge, yet has everything to do with ignorance. Only an admission of ignorance can open us to fresh knowing.” And also, “Punctuationally speaking, wonder is a period at the end of a statement we’ve long taken for granted, suddenly looking up and seeing the sinuous curve of a tall black hat on its head, and realizing it was a question mark all along.” [2] Ah! With a splash of wonder, what would our company roundtables and town halls be? So much more interesting and invigorating, yes?
Often, we don’t ask enough questions. We aren’t curious, and we don’t wonder about _______ (fill in the blank). Beautiful Questions [3] are expansive and invite us in. That’s the sort of question we want, as leaders, to pose to our teams. We can ask questions that are limiting, dull, accusing, but those won’t get anyone to wonder or take that vulnerable leap into coming up with a new idea or sharing a wild solution.
Here’s the thing on which I’d be willing to place a bet: all the wisdom you need to solve all the problems in your organization is likely already there. To be certain, this might sound like bad news for consultants and coaches—those external experts—but not the good ones. They know this, too. The most important thing to ask is good questions to engage the robust conversations. And often, to listen to voices that are not normally heard.
Try this: Identify the Top Three issues, obstacles, or problems you see as obstructing your team or organization from being the best version of itself. “Best version” means you’re fulfilling your mission and purpose, you’re living your values, and you’re meeting your measurable goals (whatever they are). Define that clearly, so we know what aspirational success looks like, then go and create spaces and places to get curious, to wonder.
Often, I see organizations race past this type of inquiry in the name of speed. They incorrectly believe that if they listen to the ideas and voices they’ve always heard, they’ll grow or build upon the top of old ideas. But what if it’s not linear? Or hierarchical? What if the most creative, innovative route isn’t, after all, a straight line?
Good questions and active curiosity can sound like skepticism from some. In the face of new ideas, Cynicism is just fear wearing a cloak of doubt. The missing ingredient is wonder, open and filled with possibility. This is not to say we don’t want to eventually vet our ideas, assess and evaluate. But do that too soon, and there’s a whole world not considered, a universe ignored, money left on the table.
Here are four questions I like to pose for any idea or suggestion someone might posit:
How is this relevant?
What other questions arise?
What’s here for me/us?
How could I/we use this?
You don’t give up your expertise or experience by letting go of what you think you know for sure. In fact, you might find something never considered exactly that way before. But you need to ask. You need to be willing.
“Let’s get curious . . . curious . . . curious . . .”
1 God Laughs & Plays, by David James Duncan, 2006.
2 God Laughs & Plays, by David James Duncan, 2006.
3 From the writings of John O’Donohue and David Whyte.
