My holiday break has already been a great success as a result of an excellent book I just read called, “The Curious Advantage” by authors Paul Ashcroft, Simon Brown, and Garrick Jones.
As a learning professional specializing in developing leadership competencies through the use of experiential digital 
business simulations, I found this book to be extremely satisfying because it provides thoughtful ideas, insights, and solutions to Talent Development pain points our clients have been experiencing for the past several years.
Curious about Curiosity
In the world of leadership development, everything revolves around competencies. A competency is the ability to do something successfully or efficiently. For example,
- having a strategic mindset to make the best business decisions
- possessing an integrative thinking capacity to understand the systems of business
- giving in-the-moment feedback to people you are working with, so they can execute their jobs and tasks flawlessly
Many experts in the field of Leadership Development believe that “being curious” is a behavior or trait, rather than a specific, refined skill. In the world of sports, some believe it’s impossible to teach speed. That is incorrect. You can teach people to be faster by providing frameworks, context, and specific techniques. In the world of leadership development, some believe that it is impossible to teach the competency of curiosity. This entire book successfully counters that belief through very practical tools and examples. The book makes a strong case that one of the most important things leaders can do to develop talent to reach their business goals and objectives is to create a culture of curiosity where employees are encouraged to seek out new ideas and experiment as part of a learning process strategy.
The Case for Curiosity
One of the most disturbing trends in the world of today’s Talent Development has been what I call the “dumbification” of employees through a process of shortening the amount of time allocated for training while also having a “check-the-box” mentality. For example, “Can you teach Strategic Mindset if I give you an hour?” The answer, of course is absolutely not! But too many training managers will buy some “page-turning” program that just checks off a box rather than makes an impact. This approach of prescribing to adults, short and specific learning solutions discourages exploration in learning and is the antithesis of a culture of curiosity.
In today’s uncertain and volatile times, organizations must fight the urge to isolate and starve curiosity and look for ways to nurture it and grow it.
One of the most profound concepts supporting the case for curiosity is the idea that having a willingness to diversify and connect generates a powerful network effect of shared knowledge and curiosity. I can only think that as we begin 2021, still in a work environment that is “remote,” that the smart organizations will embrace diversity and use technologies like Microsoft Teams and ZOOM to create stronger networks. This in turn should create more curiosity but only if it is supported and nurtured.
The Seven “C’s” of Curiosity
The best part of the book was the tips on building a culture of curiosity by encouraging the “seven C’s.” A culture of curiosity is created when leaders provide:
- Context – Help people see the big picture and understand the “why?”
- Community – Encourage networks and networking to generate ideas, challenge the status quo, and most importantly explore.
- Curation – Give employees oceans of information that is organized in a way that optimizes curiosity and provides for the opportunity to explore their own paths and experiences.
- Creativity – The more time people explore, the more creative they are.
- Construction – Build useful ways of exploring like business simulations to accelerate the process.
- Criticality – Understand conscious and unconscious biases that create negativity and being too critical of new ideas and change.
- Confidence – Being and feeling confident enables curiosity and being curious enables feeling confident. Learning through failure builds memory and helps make sure the same mistakes aren’t made again.
Curious to What’s Next
Creating a culture and mindset of curiosity is hard to do. It takes strategic planning, fortitude, and a willingness to change. Leaders of organizations and influencers of Talent Development strategies and initiatives owe it to their organizations to be curious about curiosity. There are so many things that can be done and experiments that can be started to build knowledge and confidence. One methodology referenced in the book is the use of simulations to build skills and curiosity. I am currently working on an experiment with one client who is taking our entire library of over 40 different simulations ranging from Business Acumen to giving Feedback and presenting it to their organization as a way to explore. We are providing a little guidance in terms of who the employee is (new manager, individual contributor, sales leader, leader of people, etc.) and then then allowing them to follow the path learning of how they see fit in applying new skills and tools based on their curiosity.
