Curiosity is a Superpower
One day, George de Mestral, a Swiss electrical engineer took his dog for a walk through the local woods. On returning home, he found a number of annoying burrs stuck to his clothing and on his dog.
As he pulled them off he began wondering how they were attached. He popped one under the microscope and discovered it consisted of hundreds of tiny hooks that made it ‘stick’ to the fabric and fur.
It got him thinking, could be used to create a ‘sticky’ material? He spent ten years developing the first hook and loop fastening material. He eventually got there and Velcro was created. The name comes from two French words – velours meaning velvet and crochet meaning hooks.
Curiosity has led to many such discoveries and inventions. Einstein attributed much of his success to his passionate curiosity rather than his innate talents.
“Curiosity is the engine of achievement.”
Sir Ken Robinson
Curiosity is something kids have in abundance.
Diane Hamilton PhD, in her book Cracking the Curiosity Code, says curiosity is like a spotlight.
As young kids that spotlight has a wide beam – we look at everything, we want to know about everything, and we ask ‘why’ relentlessly.
As we get older, the beam of our spotlight narrows and focuses on a smaller area – we become creatures of habit, ‘why’ is uttered less, we take things for granted, we make assumptions.
The idea of getting curious is about broadening our beam again and shining the light on different areas, opening new doors, learning and questioning more.
What is curiosity?
Curiosity is defined as a strong desire to know or learn something.
Curiosity is taking an interest in ongoing experience for its own sake, finding subjects and topics fascinating and exploring and discovering (Peterson & Seligman, 2004).
It is such a basic factor of our nature that we can be unconscious of just how omnipresent it is. Despite its pervasiveness, its biological function, mechanisms and neural underpinning remain poorly understood.
What is known, is that it motivates us to acquire knowledge and to learn. Endless studies have linked curiosity to our survival as a species. Dr Daniel Berlyne, a psychologist, philosopher and professor of psychology said curiosity is innate to our very beings, no different from our quests for food and water.
In other words, we’re biologically programmed for curiosity.
Curiosity is a common trait in the successful.
Bill Gates described curiosity as one of the three C's in successful leadership along with creativity and commitment.
“There's no better catalysts to success and curiosity.”
Michael Dell
Psychology Today rates curiosity as the top trait among those who succeed. Most successful people read to satisfy their curiosity, like to explore new things and are open to fresh ideas.
They constantly ask questions and seek information - they want to learn everything about everything. They are also comfortable heading into the unknown and dealing with uncertainty. Curiosity is the trait that helps us approach uncertainty positively.
So how does curiosity give us superpowers?
Curiosity creates courage
A story shared in Diane Hamilton’s book was about a villager in PNG in the 1930s. He was intently curious about the aeroplane British Officer James Taylor arrived on in his remote mountain village. When the time came for this strange machine to leave, despite his fears, he tied himself to the fuselage to find out where it came from.
“By replacing fear of the unknown with curiosity we open ourselves up to an infinite stream of possibility. We can let fear rule our lives or we can become childlike with curiosity, pushing our boundaries, leaping out of our comfort zones, and accepting what life puts before us”
Alan Watts
When our curiosity exceeds our fear, we have courage. It motivates us to enter into the unknown and embrace uncertainty to satisfy that curiosity.
The challenge is to stop ourselves from shrinking away from what triggers our fear.
We can do that by becoming curious about the source of our fear. Put a magnifying glass to it to dig into where the fear is coming from, and what it’s really about. Often, when we unpack what we are fearful of, we get perspective and lessen those fears.
Ignorance is fuel for fear. The more curious we are, the more we know and understand. The more we know, the less we fear.
Curiosity improves decision-making and problem-solving
When faced with a decision or a problem, it’s tempting to jump on the first solution, or a solution we are drawn to. That doesn’t necessarily result in the best choice being made.
If we consciously engage our curiosity we can:
1. Identify more options and alternatives
2. Critically explore each option
In doing so, we are also less likely to succumb to our confirmation bias. If we engage others for their input, we gain greater perspective and may uncover other options and get deeper insights into them.
This requires a growth mindset to stay open to different alternatives and apply curiosity to each one.
Ask questions like ‘What if…?’, ‘What do you think?’ or ‘How else can we…?’.
“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that don't work.”
Thomas Edison
Curiosity increases creativity and innovation
In Francesca Gino’s article in HBR, The Business Case for Curiosity, she shares an example from her research.
She recruited 200 employees at various companies and industries. Over four weeks, twice a week half received a text at the start of their workday:
“What is one topic or activity you are curious about today?
What is one thing you usually take for granted that you want to ask about?
Please make sure you ask a few ‘Why questions’ as you engage in your work throughout the day.
Please set aside a few minutes to identify how you’ll approach your work today with these questions in mind.”
The message the other half received was:
“What is one topic or activity you’ll engage in today?
What is one thing you usually work on or do that you’ll also complete today?
Please make sure you think about this as you engage in your work throughout the day.
Please set aside a few minutes to identify how you’ll approach your work today with these questions in mind.”
At the end of the study, those in the first group scored higher on questions assessing their innovative behaviours at work.
There are endless examples of how curiosity has led to innovation — like the example at the start of this article. Or how microwaves came about — Percy Spencer noticed the chocolate bar in his pocket was melting as a result of heat-generating microwaves emitted during an experiment with radar in 1945. He was intrigued and looked into it and subsequently went on to create the first microwave oven.
Curiosity sparks the creative and innovative flame within us, guiding us to explore new paths, challenge assumptions, ask questions and embrace new ideas and ways of doing things.
Curiosity helps us find our purpose and uncover strengths
It is only by trying new things, things that pique our interest, that we discover what we like and what we’re good at. If we never tried new sports and hobbies, studied new things, explored new places, or met new people we would lead very narrow lives and have much unexplored potential within us.
I am eternally grateful to my mother for encouraging my curiosity to try different sports. As a result, I rarely feared being a beginner and let my curiosity guide me to all sorts of activities. It was this that led me to take up paddling in my late thirties. It became a sport I competed in around the world and then I went on to multiple paddling expeditions and discovered what really makes me come alive.
My curiosity has undoubtedly been the compass to bringing real purpose into my life. I have discovered my strengths and weaknesses, my passions and as well as what I don’t enjoy by trying new things.
Again, you need to marry curiosity with a growth mindset and embrace possibility.
“There is freedom waiting for you, On the breezes of the sky, And you ask ‘What if I fall?’ Oh but my darling, What if you fly?”
Erin Hanson
How to increase curiosity
We need to pay attention to what is going on around us, challenge the status quo, explore new ideas, and look for new ways of getting things done. Keep asking questions and don’t take things for granted. Be lifelong avid learners.
A starting point is to be mindful and present. Children aren’t caught up in thinking about things on their to-do list, or problems they have. Instead, they are looking at the world around them with fresh eyes and asking questions.
To be more present, consider a mindful practice. Whether meditation, breathwork or mindful awareness. That might be by going for a walk, unplugged, and consciously engaging all your senses to connect to the world around you.
Start looking at the things you do and ask yourself, is there another way of doing this?
Perhaps go to a networking event or a meet-up. When you meet someone, focus on asking questions. Aim to come away from every meeting learning something new about the person. Practice truly listening.
Fire up your curiosity to explore who you are, what you enjoy, and what you are good at.
It is something that can be trained, like learning a new sport such as tennis. To begin you have to think about how you hold the racket, when you begin the swing, and your body position. After a while, you do it without thinking. It’s the same with curiosity. You begin by deliberately practising it until it comes naturally. You find yourself automatically questioning, learning, and looking for new solutions and different ways to do things.
Getting curious is a bit like suddenly seeing the world in technicolour — you see things differently, you see things you’d never noticed, you have new ideas and learn new things.
It truly is a superpower that we all possess and if you aren’t already, I encourage you to cultivate it and see where it takes you.
Sarah x