![075: C is for Curiosity [ABC’s of EYB]](https://shawnwashburn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/075-c-is-for-curiosity-abc-s-of-eyb_thumbnail.png)
075: C is for Curiosity [ABC’s of EYB]
So far, we’ve covered the importance of providing your people Access to what they need and the value of aiming for Better in your organization in incremental ways and how that can often succeed when other things fail.
For all of my fellow fans of the TV show The Office, it took everything I had to not want to title this “C is for suspension”. If you aren’t familiar with the show, just ignore that. But if you are, I’m sure you can see Kevin saying that. Anyway…
Today, with the letter C we’re going to talk about one of my favorite topics: Curiosity.
I’ve always loved the power of Curiosity and the impact it can make on the world around those who are curious.
As skill sets go, being naturally curious is up there because it flows out into so many aspects of business.
And it doesn’t cost anything to learn to be more curious. Just learn to ask more and better questions, to dig deeper, to wonder more about the world and how it works, etc.
When your team members are curious, they will give the extra effort to try to solve problems on their own. They will lift up the rocks in your organization and look underneath them, pull back the curtains and see the inner workings.
Curious people see things that others don’t… simply because they are looking. They are ALWAYS looking.
Their eyes catch the details. They notice why the website is buggy, why the parts aren’t coming out right, why the customer isn’t responding to that email.
They aren’t OK with answers like “that’s how we’ve always done it”, “that’s just what the procedure says” and “that’s not an option”.
They ask the question that we grew up asking: Why.
And they ask it early and often. Why is their constant companion. They need to know the background, collect all the data, talk to all the people.
Curious people may step on toes, ruffle feathers and stir the pot. But it’s usually because they are growth-minded and want to make things better.
Want to help your organization thrive?
Hire naturally curious people. Encourage and empower the people you have to be curious. And learn to be more curious yourself. When people are around others who are more curious, it will often rub off on them. Sometimes they just need someone to model what curious thinking and questions look like.
Well, I could talk about curiosity for hours… but I won’t.
Tomorrow we jump into another great topic in our ABC’s of Engineering Your Business.
Curious? Stop back tomorrow to find out more.
If you’ve been enjoying the podcast and haven’t left an Apple Podcasts or iTunes review, I’d love it you’d take a minute to do that. You can head to shawnwashburn.com/apple to take you right there. Thanks for spending some time today to help you and your business thrive.