The Power of Curiosity for Teams

Do you encourage your team’s curiosity? It’s easy to inadvertently discourage curiosity when you’re under pressure. You dismiss ideas because you’re busy or they’ve been tried before without success. You micromanage performance and schedules. In the process, you stunt your team’s learning, creativity, and initiative.

I was always curious about other departments at the companies where I worked. Browsing the intranet and looking through open folders. I explored marketing projects, future construction blueprints, market research reports, and more.

This genuine curiosity allowed me to better understand different roles and processes in the company. The increased contextual information improved my understanding of business decisions and performance. My unbridled curiosity created opportunities to learn, build relationships, and collaborate.

Jeni, a former manager, encouraged my curiosity and championed my ideas. She shared two pieces of wisdom that stuck with me:

“It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.”
“If it doesn’t create an ethical, legal, or financial risk, then go for it.”

Jeni ware

She gave me autonomy and permission to explore my ideas and execute them.

To a young and ambitious employee, this meant the world. Her advice showed she trusted me. It gave me the confidence to create solutions, present proposals, and position myself for promotions. Her words stayed with me long after we parted our separate ways.

I encourage you to do the same. Give your team permission to explore their ideas and execute them.

How do you encourage curiosity?

Here are several exercises to encourage curiosity. Pick one or two to implement over the next 90 days.

• Pose questions for your team to explore during the week. “What would happen if…?” Then follow-up a week later to share answers and discuss.
• Share your new insights in a weekly team memo and allow them time to explore the details. “Did you know…?”
• Recreate “show-and-tell” from childhood and have team members share experience, insights, or resources they recently discovered.
• Make resources easily available online or in your office space. Access is instrumental in encouraging creativity. (ex: Virtual Workspace) Organized resources make it easier to explore.
• Encourage your team to find their own answers by pointing them in the right direction. Yes, this takes more time then giving them a direct answer, but it’s an investment in their ability to learn and take initiative. A Virtual Workspace supports this. 😉 Then follow-up to confirm their direction. This exercise is more ideal for a seasoned team member versus new hire; it depends on the scenario.
• Create spaces in your office to encourage play. This might be long tables or open floors where your team can experiment with creative materials. It might be a comfortable lounge where they can read or watch a video.
• Facilitate off-site lessons. Visit a local museum, create a walking/driving tour, attend a creative workshop.

Encouraging curiosity creates an empowered team. A team where members feel confident to find and create their own solutions. Confident team members are able to better serve clients. This confidence creates a ripple effect. Innovation and productivity increase thus improving business performance.

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