Curiosity in Change Leads to Openness, Wonder and Possibility

Over the past two months, we've explored the concept of change, and how courage, curiosity, and trust can help you navigate it. Last month , we looked at the importance of practicing courage. This month, we’re taking a deep dive into the benefits of approaching change with curiosity.

When change happens, there is a lot of new—new people, new ways of doing things, new deadlines, new voices, new perspectives, and new outcomes. Approaching change from a posture of curiosity helps you maintain a sense of openness, wonder, and possibility in the face of all this newness.Being curious keeps you engaged in what is emerging as it is emerging. Expect new stuff to happen, anticipate it, and approach it with a posture of curiosity to see where it will go.

One Board’s Experience Asking What If?

Several months ago, I was working with a board of trustees as they were implementing a new relationship framework with their executive director. We had developed this “customized governance model” over the preceding six months. But the board was having a little trouble getting their minds around the change now that they were actually implementing it.

To offer perspective, I posed two questions. First, I asked, “How many of you have more than two children?” Most raised their hand.

Then I asked, “For those of you who raised your hand, what changed when the third child was born?” Without a pause, several people said, “EVERYTHING.” One board member expanded on that and said, “Having our third child changed how my wife and I parented, how we cooked, even the way we got ready to leave the house. We had to regroup and think of new ways to do things.”

I’ll bet that their regrouping involved asking a lot of what if questions. Curiosity is about wondering and exploring new ideas; it’s about being open to (and even excited about) seeing what might happen next. It’s about asking questions even if you don’t know the answers.

Several of the board members began practicing curiosity. They asked questions like, “If we decided not to review all the reports from the subcommittees at our board meetings, what might we do with that time instead?” and “If we decided not to review the monthly cash flow, in what other ways can we honor our fiduciary responsibility?”

Courage And Curiosity Are a Powerful Combination

Courage is being willing to take the next step, and curiosity is about being open to what you might find there. That’s a great 1-2 punch when you’re going through change.

Next month, I’ll take a deep dive into trust—the third behavior that, when combined with courage and curiosity, can help you approach, embrace, and engage change successfully. Stay tuned!

If you have a question, thought or example you’d like to share related to practicing curiosity, I’d love to hear it! Please comment below. You may also reach me directly at lons@designgroupintl.com .