Mindsets for Success: Inquisitive
Having an inquisitive mindset in the workplace can be a game-changer. It can help you stay ahead of the curve, come up with innovative solutions, and improve your overall performance. Being curious sparks engagement with our world and those around us, making our days more interesting and increasing motivation.
Curiosity is a powerful tool that can help you learn new things and develop new skills. As Albert Einstein once said, “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”
According to a Harvard Business Review article, cultivating curiosity at all levels helps leaders and their employees adapt to uncertain market conditions and external pressures. When our curiosity is triggered, we think more deeply and rationally about decisions and come up with more creative solutions. Curiosity also allows leaders to gain more respect from their followers and inspires employees to develop more trusting and collaborative relationships with colleagues.
Being Inquisitive Sparks Success and Happiness
We are born inquisitive; curiosity is an innate human trait that helps us learn and grow.
While there is no scientific evidence that curiosity can be fostered as a trait, educators and parents can create situations that prompt and guide a child’s curiosity.
There are indicators that being inquisitive feeds upon itself. According to cognitive scientist and researcher Elizabeth Bonawitz, curiosity is a sensation much like hunger or thirst. It acts as a kind of filter that helps the mind decide what information to attend to, and it drives action and decision-making to support learning.
Curiosity is self-perpetuating because it makes your mind active instead of passive. Our active brains naturally seek to fill in the gaps, so much so, that the human brain has been dubbed a machine for jumping to conclusions. Taking a slower, playful approach that embraces inquiry in the quest to fill those gaps keeps the door open to possibilities.
Inquisitive people always ask questions and search for answers in their minds. Since the mind is like a muscle that becomes stronger through continual exercise, the mental exercise caused by curiosity actually strengthens your mind.
To develop an inquisitive mindset, it’s important to develop a positive attitude towards learning, and see exploration as fun and enjoyable. .
Staying Curious at Work
“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence.” – Albert Einstein
As Roy T. Bennett once said, “Listen with curiosity. Speak with honesty. Act with integrity.” By being curious about others’ perspectives and approaches to certain things, you can find potential new answers and solutions to problems hidden in other people’s thinking.”
Curiosity in conversation can sound like a genuine interest in the other person’s perspective, a willingness to ask open-ended questions, and a desire to learn more about the topic at hand. According to an article by the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, curiosity and understanding are key to having better conversations across differences. The article suggests that we should value truth more than our own opinions and come into conversations with a measure of humility. By doing so, we can help our minds move from certainty to uncertainty, finding gaps in understanding that help our curiosity catch on.
Being Inquisitive Can Be Energizing
The feeling of satisfaction that comes from following the sparks of our curiosity is unique and rewarding. Whether it is learning something new, solving a problem, or seeing something from another’s perspective, an inquisitive mindset can lead to more fulfilling relationships and a greater sense of wellbeing.
In conversation, curiosity sounds like an eagerness to learn and understand, a willingness to ask questions and listen for answers, and an openness to different perspectives. It is a key ingredient for having meaningful conversations that bridge divides.