Cultivate deep curiosity: The catalyst for action, creativity, and innovation
The most creative, innovative, and entrepreneurial people I know are also the most curious.
As a creative, strategist and founder I’m a very curious person, and so are my business partners and the many collaborators I’ve had the chance to work with over the years in the worlds of nonprofits, business, academia, and community-building.
There is a ton of research and resources about curiosity — whether it’s with founders, children, professional creatives, or corporate employees.
I got curious and did a deep dive into this on my own, after being inspired by a section of a talk last week (photo at the bottom).
Designers are often driven by empathy, as we’re solving problems, and apparently, empathy starts with curiosity. (An HBR article during the pandemic goes into detail about this).
What about at work? While 83% of C-suite professionals believe they encourage curiosity, only about half agree — so they’re less likely to share those innovative ideas or produce the quality they’re capable of.
“Companies know creativity is important, but they aren’t very good at being creative” is from an article about GPS, geocaching, and curiosity. The article from the Right Question Institute shares that it’s critical to have curiosity stimulate companies to stay ahead of their competition and continue building on new ideas.
What are the other benefits of curiosity? Curiosity improves your memory, encourages empathy and effort, and even inspires persistence.
Curiosity is also linked to purpose, which is linked to productivity. (According to the Pew Research Center, getting curious about work is hugely impactful, because you search for more meaning and find it more fulfilling).
Back to what inspired this article…
Cultivate deep curiosity.
That was the first step Forest Young shared during his Outside Inside keynote at DesignThinkers last week.
