Deep Curiosity

Deep Curiosity. It’s not just a nice-to-have, it’s the game-changer.
...
But ultimately? Mindset matters most.

And the highest-impact hires? They are Deeply Curious.
✨ They don’t just stop at Why? They keep digging.
✨ They push for better instead of settling for that’s how it’s done.
✨ They light up when they learn something new.

These are the ones who truly elevate a team. Not just a Culture Fit, they are a Culture Add.

What does deep curiosity mean to you?

To me deep curiosity is about getting to the root of the situation. It is about understanding the history, the players, the influences, and the risks.

This is the tough conversation we have with our client "What outcomes are you seeking here?" rather than being satisfied with a description of the service.
This is seeking to understand the people involved and the motivation they have in their processes.
This is going the extra mile to build connections between novel ideas that were not there before.

When we remove weeds from our garden (the things that prevent our plants from growing as big, as fast, as bright as they could otherwise) it is easy to see the leaf of the weed and pull at it. After all, this solves the problem; our carrots that were being shaded out by the weed can get their sunlight. But what happens tomorrow? We find the weed has grown back.

Taking the time, energy, and effort to investigate with questions like:

Where is the root of this weed?
What would remove this weed for good?
Why does this weed like this spot and can I make it less appealing?
Requires some of our time now, but pays off when tomorrow we don't have to pluck the leaves again.

AND....

Being curious does cost us. I may have been able to pull the leaves from 50 weeds and given all of my carrots sunlight until tomorrow in the time it took me to identify the root of the problem (pun intended). There is a very distinct tradeoff.

The tradeoff is not just around time either. Deep Curiosity can frustrate those who are overwhelmed or otherly motivated. Responding to a manager's request for a TPS report with "Why?" doesn't always come with enough time, energy, or respect to sit down and go over the benefits and values of the TPS report.

So there can be space where it is time to move forward without as much curiosity- but in that space elevate balancing risks. The last thing we want to do is assume we get a better payout from plucking the leaves to find that the root was actually drinking up all the water and killing off all of our carrots.

This is why having a united culture of Deep Curiosity can be very beneficial for an organization.

It elevates everyone understanding 'why' we are doing these things and creates more autonomy around 'how' we solve the problems.
It elevates everyone's understanding 'what' is important and creates more autonomy around where we point our attention.
Creating a norm around Deep Curiosity allows us to become more effective as a team and organization (not to mention giving space for managers to provide support rather than direction for their teams).

Cultivate an approach of deep curiosity within your organization.

Why a response here?
I was inspired by this post from Rafat: https://untested.sonnet.io/notes/instead-or-writing-a-comment-write-a-post-and-link-it/