In my last article, I explored the power of collective curiosity and what becomes possible when curiosity stops sitting with a few individuals and starts being practised by everybody. Which, rather inevitably, led to another wonderfully pesky question. Is curiosity a trait, something we either have or don’t, or is it a skill that can be encouraged, practised and strengthened?
My honest answer is that it’s probably a bit of both. Some people are naturally curious, but I’ve also seen curiosity grow enormously in people, teams and relationships when the right encouragement, habits and space are put around it. And that matters, because if curiosity helps us uncover opportunities, challenge assumptions, stay relevant and see around corners, leaving it entirely to personality feels like a rather risky strategy.
A quick curiosity “health check”
Before we go any further, score yourself from one to ten against these five questions. Don’t overthink it, and try not to award yourself the score you’d like to have.
- How often do I explore beyond the immediate brief or task?
- How often do I separate what I know from what I merely assume?
- How comfortable am I asking a question when everyone else appears to understand?
- How often do I actively seek perspectives beyond my own experience or discipline?
- How often do I create time to notice, reflect and connect dots, rather than simply moving on to the next deliverable?
The number itself isn’t particularly important. What’s more interesting is where you paused, which question made you slightly uncomfortable and whether the people you work with would give you the same score.
You could also use the four areas from The AAR Growth Curiosity Model and score yourself against Strategic, Commercial, Stakeholder and Organisational Curiosity. Where are you naturally strong? Where do you rarely venture? And where might greater curiosity create the most value right now? That’s curiosity with intent.
What P&G taught me about questions and permission
Very early in my career at P&G, there was a meeting habit that has stayed with me ever since. In many discussions, the most junior person was invited to contribute first, followed by others in order of experience.
At the time, being one of those junior voices, I didn’t fully understand why. I was often quicker to offer my conclusion or opinion because I had far less experience to draw on. The more experienced leaders tended to stay curious for longer. They listened to every perspective, explored the “why” and asked questions before arriving at their own point of view.
By speaking last, the leader wasn’t avoiding a recommendation. They were making it richer by ensuring it was informed by perspectives beyond their own. Did it take longer? Yes. Did it help us get to better decisions, faster? Also yes. Has the learning stayed with me for life? Absolutely.
It taught me that leadership and curiosity are deeply connected. The most senior person doesn’t always need to speak first and, by speaking too early, can unintentionally narrow a discussion before others have had the opportunity to explore it.
Because sometimes the most useful thing a leader can bring to the room isn’t certainty. It’s permission.
Permission to wonder, challenge, admit uncertainty and ask the question that may be sitting in everybody else’s head.
One of the simplest ways to do that and bring curiosity into everyday work is to pause before rushing towards the solution and ask your team three very different things:
- What do we know? What is supported by evidence, experience or fact?
- What do we think we know? What are we assuming, interpreting or carrying forward from an earlier conversation?
- What do we need to know? Where are the gaps, contradictions and unanswered questions?
That distinction can be incredibly revealing. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard a confident statement unravel when somebody gently asks, “Do we actually know that?” Quite often, we don’t. We believe it, somebody told us once, or it was true a year ago when the relationship, business or category looked very different.
This doesn’t require a lengthy diagnostic exercise. Spend five minutes on it before a briefing, a client meeting or the start of a project. Spend ten minutes on it before developing a recommendation. Return to it when a challenge begins to drift or the work isn’t landing as expected.
And revisit it during transitions. New relationships and projects are full of questions, whilst established ones can be full of inherited assumptions. Asking what remains true, what has changed and what needs to be relearned helps preserve the value of experience without allowing familiarity to quietly close down curiosity.
Not all questions are created equal
As I’ve dived into this subject, I’ve found it really useful to think about questions as a ladder. Every rung has value, but each takes us somewhere different.
Level 1: Confirmation Questions
These help us clarify what is already in front of us: timings, budgets, responsibilities, deliverables and next steps. They are necessary and useful, but they largely help us execute what has already been decided.
Level 2: Discovery Questions
These reveal context that might otherwise remain hidden. What has changed? Why now? What sits behind that concern? Who else needs to be involved? What have we tried before?
Discovery questions help us understand the wider picture, uncover gaps and collect new dots.
Level 3: Growth Questions
These have the potential to change the direction of travel. What are we assuming? What might we be missing? Are we solving the right problem?
Growth questions don’t need to sound clever or theatrical. The best are often immensely simple. Their value lies in helping people see something differently, challenge an accepted truth or open a door that everybody else has been walking past.
The ambition isn’t to turn every operational conversation into a philosophical enquiry. Sometimes we genuinely do just need to confirm the deadline. But if all our questions remain at Level 1, we shouldn’t be surprised when we learn very little that is new.
Five Minutes Before. Ten Minutes After.
Curiosity becomes more useful when it is built into the rhythm of the work, rather than saved for a workshop, a pitch or the moment a senior leader becomes involved.
- Before a briefing: What don’t we understand yet?
- After a briefing: What surprised us?
- Before a recommendation: What assumptions are we relying on?
- After a project: What should we remain curious about?
These pauses don’t need to become another cumbersome process. Five focused minutes can be enough to change the quality of a conversation. Ten minutes spent exploring early can prevent considerably more time being lost later.
Curiosity for agencies on project fees and without the luxury of a retainer
Not every agency has years to immerse itself in a client’s world, and many relationships are built around smaller projects, shorter engagements or specialist briefs. So how do you fast-track curiosity without pretending there is unlimited time or access?
My advice? Focus on the gaps that matter most. Use the Growth Curiosity Model to decide where better understanding could materially improve the work, ask the client what they wish partners understood sooner and finish your first conversation with a short list of what you know, think you know and still need to know.
Curiosity isn’t measured by the length of the relationship or the number of meetings in the diary. It’s measured by the quality of attention brought to the time available. A short project doesn’t need every possible question. It needs the right questions, asked early enough to make a difference.
Make curiosity part of the everyday
Leaders play an enormous role here. We can’t ask people to challenge assumptions and then become defensive when they do. We can’t say we want curiosity, then reward only speed, certainty and polished answers. And we can’t declare “WE ARE CURIOUS” in a credentials deck if curiosity disappears the moment the pitch is won and delivery begins.
Instead, make curiosity visible. Ask the quieter voices in the room what they have noticed. Invite new joiners to share what seems strange before they become familiar with it. Coach the questions people ask, not only the answers they produce. At the end of a meeting, ask what remains unresolved rather than racing immediately into actions.
And keep checking the temperature of the relationship. Curiosity should look different during transition, onboarding, delivery, review and renewal, but it should be present throughout. At the beginning, it helps us learn quickly. Later, it helps us resist complacency and look beyond the most obvious explanation. Because familiarity should deepen curiosity, not replace it.
Practice, practice, practice
So, is curiosity a trait or a skill? My answer hasn’t changed. I still think it’s both. But the encouraging part is that it can be strengthened. Five minutes at a time. One better question at a time. One more dot collected, shared and connected.
And perhaps that is the loveliest thing about curiosity: the more we practise it, the more possibilities seem to appear…
