Be Curious!

Good Day, and welcome to your mid-week-pick-me-up!

I am continuing to think about the start of the new year, and after the previous two messages about Just Picking 1 Thing and taking Just 1 Step, I'd love to add something this week about Being Curious!

Per usual, I've had several conversations in the last week with leaders around this topic, and one of the things I think I am coming to realize is that the enemy/opposite of curiosity is certainty. In fact, at the beginning of this new year I want to declare that in leadership, unlike cats, I believe certainty is what kills us, not curiosity!  Being Curious is what actually brings us life, vitality, and real growth.

A few examples to illustrate.

I was taking with a friend who is part of a large organization. In recent years, this organization has doubled down on narrowing the way they think and respond to various issues. The leadership of the organization has determined that they are right and certain about their position, even to the point of punishing people who get out of line! As a result, creativity, exploration and innovation have almost completely stopped. Watching this from a distance, it sure seems like this love affair with certainty is going to actually kill this organization in the long run. But if they were willing to adjust their perspective and embrace a posture of Being Curious instead, new life and creativity might come back and bring a renewed sense of revitalization and hope to the organization. 

In another recent situation, I was working with a leader who has a team member whose default is certainty about their perspective. In this circumstance it means they come to meetings full of assumptions and pre-judgements, which translates into "here's why we can't do that" in almost every scenario.  In this smaller setting, the results are the same - creativity, exploration and innovation are shut down, and tension builds. 

These observations are helping to drive my invitation to Be Curious this year! I believe that by making this one adjustment - working to set aside our assumptions and pre-judgments based on our certainty, and then leaning in with Curiosity, we can change the entire dynamic of a relationship, a meeting, a team, or even an organization.  Practically, I think this looks like asking questions more than making statements. "Tell me more about..." or "Help me understand why you took that approach?" It doesn't mean we don't speak up and give input based on facts, but we do all of that with a loose grip. Perhaps when we speak, we express it like, "My experience has been..." followed up with, "What's your experience been like?"

Bottom line: Curiosity may have killed the cat, but for us, Being Curious opens up new life and exploration!

How could you Be Curious this year? Are there places where you are tempted to let certainty lead, and what would it look like to adjust and let Curiosity take a front seat instead? 

(And to be clear, this isn't just a message for you today, because I already have several areas in my own life where I am letting certainty get ahead of curiosity, so I'm going to work to make these adjustments with you!)

Here's to Being Curious in 2026!

Be Well,

Stephen

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