Curiosity isn’t always seen as a likeable trait, however, in the world of business, we believe it can be. Not only is curiosity a great way to show your interest in the people around you but it actually increases your learning. If you show you’re curious to the people around you, the more curious they’ll be and so it becomes infectious. If you turn up to work with an open and enquiring mind, you’re sure to learn and develop continuously. On the other hand, if you have a closed mind, you’re likely to become stagnant and your rate of learning will slow down considerably.

Are you curious?

If you’re not already curious, you can learn to become so. Depending on your starting point it will determine how easy or difficult it will be for you to be a curious worker. If you’re naturally quite curious but you don’t exhibit these behaviours, you should find it much easier to be curious. For example, try to talk to people more and ask them about what interests them and be sure to ask lots of questions. Showing your interest in people and things is already halfway there.

However, if you’re not naturally interested, you can pretend to be and this will then lead you to find curiosity more natural in the long run. Most people find that by pretending they’re interested, they genuinely start to feel interested. Outward behaviour ultimately affects your inner feelings.

Characteristics of a curious person

Curiosity acts as a springboard for learning and development. If you’re a curious person, you’ll likely:

  • Ask a lot of questions
  • Often think out loud
  • Play devil’s advocate
  • Dig and delve to find out more information
  • Formulate and reformulate theories
  • Challenge conventional thinking

Unfortunately, if you’re a curious person, there are downsides to this. As a curious individual,  you’ll often flit from one interest to another and you’ll likely find it hard to sustain your enthusiasm for one standalone thing. Due to this, you’ll often find that you fail to see things through to a conclusion. The saying good starters, poor finishers is often used to describe a curious person. So, work hard to maintain your interest and you should be able to avoid falling into the usual trap of not finishing.

To continually improve, consistent curiosity is needed. You’ll often find that insatiable curiosity leads to great learning and development.

If you need help developing your skills, get in touch with ACTIONcoach today!