Replay - Curiosity: Bad for Cats, Good for Business

<p class="p1">During December and January we are replaying some of our more popular episodes from over the years. This week's replay is from 2nd November 2019 and is titled Curiosity: Bad for Cats, Good for Business. </p> <p class="p1"> </p> <p class="p1"><strong>Summary</strong></p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p3">Curiosity is rarely encouraged at work. In fact, leaders and organisations often actively discourage being inquisitive. This week we explore the benefits of curiosity, and four ways to encourage it in your team.</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p1"><strong>Transcript</strong></p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p3">Welcome to episode 58 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we tackle one of today’s biggest leadership challenges. This week we’re looking at the benefits of curiosity, and how to encourage it in your team.</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p3">The word “curiosity” often conjures up negative connotations. If I asked you to tell me a popular saying about curiosity, it would most likely be “curiosity killed the cat”. This fear of being inquisitive translates into our organisations. Surely if people become curious at work they’re going to neglect their day jobs and start venturing into distraction. And won’t this lead to conflict, reduced productivity and a lack of clarity?</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p3">However, research on curiosity demonstrates that these concerns are unfounded, and that curiosity provides a range of benefits for individuals and organisations.<span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p3">Here’s just a sample of what the research tells us about the benefits of curiosity:</p> <ul class="ul1"> <li class="li3">Curiosity helps us to become more accurate in our decision making. When we are curious, we seek out more alternatives. This helps us to avoid stereotyping people and selectively choosing information that supports our viewpoint.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></li> <li class="li3">When people are encourage