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Collaboration and teams   |   4 Phrases That Build a Culture of Curiosity
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Collaboration and teams


4 PHRASES THAT BUILD A CULTURE OF CURIOSITY

Use them to create deeper connections on your team.
by
 * Scott Shigeoka

by
 * Scott Shigeoka

November 01, 2023
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Summary.    Curiosity is a powerful practice to infuse into a company’s culture.
But managers often limit their definition of curiosity to simply a way to get
information. Curiosity, though, can be a more expansive practice — it is a force
for connection. We need to move away from...more
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Curiosity is a powerful practice to infuse into a company’s culture. Research
shows that managers are seen as more communal and friendly when they recognize
their beliefs might be wrong. It also reduces employee burnout and stress, and
is associated with higher levels of creativity and innovation. When you build a
culture of curiosity, people feel seen and heard — in essence, they feel like
they truly matter. This kind of positive organizational culture does wonders for
employees’ well-being, hiring top talent, retention rates, and productivity and
fulfillment at work.

However, managers often get one major thing wrong about curiosity. They tend to
limit their definition of curiosity as a force to get information — something
that powers our exploration or learning, for instance. We need to see curiosity
as a more expansive practice. It’s more than just an intellectual pursuit; it is
a force for connection.

We need to move away from “shallow curiosity” and embrace “deep curiosity.” This
is the kind of curiosity that gives us more than data points or facts. It is a
practice that centers on unearthing stories, values, experiences, and feelings.
When conversations go beneath the surface in this way, it can strengthen work
relationships, foster a better understanding of yourself as a leader, and help
you to navigate conflict or anxiety in the office.

Curiosity is an exceptionally effective tool leaders have to lead diverse teams
in an increasingly complex time filled with technological advancements and an
ever-changing cultural pulse.

In my work writing a book on the topic, researching curiosity at UC Berkeley’s
Greater Good Science Center, and teaching groundbreaking courses at the
University of Texas at Austin, I’ve uncovered four key statements that can
intentionally build a curious culture in your workplace:


“I DON’T KNOW.”

Intellectual humility is a concept researchers define as “the degree to which
people recognize that their beliefs might be wrong.” Understanding the
limitations of your mind and staying open to the wisdom of others is a critical
tenet of curiosity. Many leaders fear saying “I don’t know,” worrying that it
makes them look ill-equipped for the job at hand. But research on intellectual
humility shows that those who practice it are rarely perceived to be less
competent. In fact, the opposite is true — they’re seen as more competent and
are also viewed in a more positive light, as more communal and friendly. These
are traits that team members prefer to work with in a leader, as they’re core
ingredients to building trustworthiness. Making this statement also indicates
that you aren’t arrogant about having all the answers and that you’re open to
the ideas of others.

It’s important to follow up a statement like “I don’t know” with a course of
action, though, because leaders still need to instill a culture of learning and
growth, as well as a sense of confidence about the future. Asking a team
something along the lines of, “But how might we learn more?” creates the kind of
curiosity that encourages participation, collaboration, and problem solving.

Practicing intellectual humility can also reduce anxiety in the workplace. An
astonishing finding from a study in the Journal of Positive Psychology found
that intellectual humility was negatively associated with anxiety, and
positively associated with happiness and overall life satisfaction.


“TELL ME MORE.”

For decades, psychologists John Gottman and Julie Schwartz Gottman have been
exploring the question of how we can strengthen our relationships with our
romantic partners. What they found is that a fundamental ingredient to longer,
healthier, and happier marriages is to respond to their “bids” for your
attention — a takeaway that can also be applied at work.

In other words, when your partner says, “I’m really enjoying this book,” “I saw
the coolest thing on my walk,” or “I had a tough day at work,” respond with
something more than just “That’s great” or “I’m sorry to hear that.” Turn toward
them with curiosity: “Tell me more about the book. What about it is making you
enjoy it?” “Tell me more about what you saw on your walk,” or “Tell me more
about what happened today.” When you fail to respond to them meaningfully in
these moments, you’re missing a meaningful opportunity for connection.

At work, your team makes dozens of bids for your attention. They might say
things like “I’m learning a lot about generative AI, and it’s really exciting,”
or “The timeline for this project feels a little too ambitious for me.” When you
miss these bids, you miss opportunities to maintain or strengthen relationships
with those you work with. Instead of moving on to the next agenda item, respond
with “Tell me more.”

Strengthening our connections to others isn’t just a feel-good human act, it’s
also good for business. Fostering a supportive environment can reduce employee
burnout and stress, and positive workplace relationships are also associated
with improved creativity and innovation.


“I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU’RE MORE THAN YOUR JOB.”

There’s so much going on in an employee’s life, whether it is a cancer diagnosis
of a family member, a new baby, a dissolving marriage, moving to a new house,
preparing for a volunteer fundraiser, or a set of challenges their child is
experiencing at school. Employees are also impacted by what’s happening in the
world — for example, a hate crime against someone in their community or the
threat of a natural disaster that causes anxiety or fear.

When you ignore what’s happening in employees’ personal lives, you miss the
chance to identify possible “work-life conflicts.” Researchers describe this
phenomenon as the demands of someone’s job (such as travel, irregular or late
hours, or occupational stress) clashing with those of the family (such as taking
a child to swim class, attending an important event for their partner, or caring
for an elderly parent). Research has found that unsolved work-life conflict has
a consequence on employee’s productivity and job performance, leads to higher
turnover, and negatively affects psychological safety.

Alleviating work-life conflict starts with simply acknowledging the reality that
we are all impacted by our personal lives and relationships, and the events of
the world. What goes on outside of work will, undoubtedly, ripple into one’s
professional life.

Creating organizational policies like parental and sick leave and providing
mental health support or comprehensive health care alleviates some of the pains
associated with work-life conflict, but acknowledging work-life conflict as a
leader also cracks open the door of deep curiosity. Acknowledging that an
employee has a life outside of work allows your team members to share more
specifics about their home struggles (if they choose), which gives you a better
idea of how to support them. If you’re successful, it doesn’t just strengthen
your relationship and improve their personal lives, but it also plays a role in
the success of your organization.


“WHO ELSE?”

Not only does contemporary work culture prioritize answers over questions, it
also has a bias toward who has the answers. Fueled by assumptions, we often
disenfranchise certain people from contributing their insights or solutions
because we believe that only the developers — or leadership team, or engineers,
etc. — have anything of value to contribute.

The best leaders know that insights and solutions can come from unusual suspects
who are rarely pulled into the brainstorming or decision-making tables. When I
was bringing curiosity practices to the staff of Pixar Animation Studios, one
animator shared a moment that shaped his views of how to develop films. The
director pulled him and a group of Pixar team members into a room to review a
scene from a forthcoming movie. When the director asked for feedback, one person
raised their hand and said, “But I’m just an accountant.” The director replied,
“You were hired to work at Pixar because your voice, thoughts, and ideas
matter…You can make this film better.”

After years of creating arguably the best animated movies the planet has ever
seen, directors at Pixar realized that pulling feedback from a truly diverse
group was going to give them more and better perspectives. By being curious
about perspectives from those who didn’t have the title “writer” or “animator”
in their name, they were sourcing wisdom from a truly expansive and interesting
group. They avoided homogenous groupthink.

No matter your company size or industry, you can bring this kind of curiosity to
your organization by asking, “Who else might have unique insights or solutions
to offer us? Who else can we ask?” For a nonprofit, it might be a diverse group
of people who are benefiting from your work, like the communities you work
alongside. For a small business, it might be your vendors or customers. Or maybe
it’s just walking into a different department in your own organization to find
someone who can bring a new perspective, like the accountant at Pixar. Brilliant
insights and solutions can come from the most unlikely people — so long as you
continue to question “Who else?”


. . .

Incorporating these four phrases into your daily work will fast-track you, your
team, and your organization to deep curiosity, but their impact doesn’t stop
there. Research shows that when more of us model and see curiosity as valuable
by using these kinds of phrases, it’s more likely that others will adopt the
practice, too. Curiosity is contagious. The more you practice it in a visible
way with your teams, the more likely it is they’ll follow your lead — and that’s
how culture is built.

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Read more on Collaboration and teams or related topics Leading teams,
Organizational culture, Leadership, Interpersonal communication and Listening
skills
 * SS
   Scott Shigeoka is an internationally recognized curiosity expert, speaker,
   and the author of Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the
   World. He is known for translating research into strategies that promote
   positive well-being and connected relationships around the globe, including
   at the UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and through his popular
   courses at the University of Texas at Austin. Scott implements his curiosity
   practices with leaders in the public sector, Fortune 500 companies,
   Hollywood, media organizations, education institutions, and small businesses.

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Read more on Collaboration and teams or related topics Leading teams,
Organizational culture, Leadership, Interpersonal communication and Listening
skills



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