Being inquisitive is an underrated quality, yet without it teams are destined to underperform.
Educationalists might claim that curiosity is a cornerstone of learning, but our education system rarely encourages it. There isn’t time for curiosity outside the confines of the curriculum.
Subsequently, our education can feel like we are being squashed through a sausage machine of approved topics and content. Compliance trumps curiosity, and independent thought gives way to uniform thinking. That was certainly my experience of schooling at least until I was seventeen and although I may be older than many of my readers, I am confident that my experience has not been too dissimilar to that of people much younger.
There are good arguments to be made as to why our system of education should run in this way, teeing us up to leap the various learning hurdles and move us further down the track. Most countries have a tiered system of ever-increasing qualifications on the road to employment. But when the system of hurdling and hoop jumping muscles out inquisitiveness, it fails to prepare us for what we will face and what we will need to bring with us to the work teams we join.
‘What’ is a significant question that perhaps more than any other, signifies curiosity, exploration, and ambition. ‘What else?’, ‘What is the opportunity here?’, ‘What can we do to fix this?’, ‘What do we really want?’
Asking ‘what’ is one of the things that sets great teams apart from mediocre ones. It is a question that compels them forwards, inviting analysis, dreaming, and discovery. It is a springboard that mistrusts the terra firma of certainty, seeking to uproot, recalibrate, and redefine the world around us. It drives continuous improvement and banishes complacency. It helps teams remain credible, relevant, and agile.
So, whether we start to elevate this quality within our stuffy education system or create some other mechanism for people to develop it, we need to recognise its importance as part of a prosperous and growing economy. Curiosity might kill a cat, but the absence of it is a catastrophe for teams.