Curiosity is the spark that keeps us going and alive.
Curiosity drives us to gain more knowledge and information about ourselves, our families, our colleagues, the world, and humanity. Asking questions about everything and anything allows us to be more compassionate, more aware, and more engaged with one another and with ourselves. Asking questions and searching for answers give us the resilience and self-confidence to live more purposefully and foster our core values; it connects us with our deepest selves and surroundings.
Our curiosity is omnipresent in our early childhood; as children, we experience and discover and are the ultimate curious human being until age 5. After, once we attend school, curiosity falls.
Remember how children ask hundreds of questions a day?
As a parent, I remember the conversation with my 5-year-old son, especially in the car. As we were traveling, it would go like this.
“Mom, why are we stopping? Because there is a stop sign.
Why is there a stop sign? Because two roads are coming together, the cars must let each other pass. Can the car do that without the stop sign? Yes, they could, but we have driving guidelines or codes to follow to make it easier for the driver.
What is the driving code? Etc. Etc. And it would go on and on for hours. Yes, it was a bit annoying at the time, my patience is not one of my virtues, and I was not always in the teaching mood, but looking back, it was fantastic that he was interested in learning anything.
Curiosity drives and fulfills self-confidence, allowing us to become more knowledgeable.
Knowledge gives us the essence of being in the know, which builds self-trust. It provides us with the expertise, perhaps in the field we are professionally involved in, the comprehension of concepts, and the skill we need to improve. It gives us the education and the intelligence to make good choices based on facts and data we are interested in learning about. Curiosity initiates all the information we need to stay alive and fit for the future. Curiosity is the future for all of us, as it shapes our way of doing and thinking. In the age of AI, curiosity will drive innovation, resilience, and empathy for humanity to continue to strive.
In a working environment learning and developing ourselves is a must;
we must take additional courses to improve our skills. We often do not question this, and those who do not follow a learning and development path in their professional life can find themselves quickly expired and put on a nongrowth track. Fulfilling and attaining these professional obligations are often seen as normal. Some companies are more demanding and open to a curiosity culture. Still, nevertheless, it seems more normal to search for answers and newness in our professional tracks than in our personal existence.
Being a global learning and development professional, I must entice curiosity. Guiding people on their professional path to discover what could be their next version of themselves takes a lot of reflection and lots of questions to be asked. This process is where personal and professional meet to create harmony between the two. Being happy in a job and career is closely related to the way we feel in our personal life. The roads cross at the moment of feeling fulfilled and accomplished.
Do you want to foster curiosity in your organization, contact me
