Skip to main content

Finding Curiosity

Curiosity by Georgie Pauwels Flickr CC BY 


"What are you curious about?"

I was listening to The Design Movement podcast when host Dr. Brett Jacobson asked his guest how he creates a learning culture at his company. The guest responded that he asks everyone who interviews for a job, "What are you curious about?" If it takes them more than a moment to answer, you've learned what you need to know.

I consider myself someone who loves to learn. Each day, I look forward to going through my Feedly articles to get updated on ideas and events of the past 24 hours. I play my podcasts at 1.5x so I can get through them all. And yet, I struggle with this question.

What am I curious about?

If I had been sitting across from that interviewer, I would have paused. Probably too long. 

Curiosity is different than passion. Perhaps a precursor. Definitely more subtle. You don't have to be passionate about something in order to be curious about it. And yet, I think that's why I struggled with the question. I'm still trying to find my passion. What I want to be when I grow up. I don't have that one thing that I always want to talk to people about, the way some people do about fitness, about maker culture, about travel. 

Curiousity is different. It doesn't have to be the thing you are constantly researching. It doesn't have to be the thing that you think about before you fall asleep. Curiosity is the fleeting thought when you notice something out of the ordinary. The idea that makes you think about a different perspective, even if just for a minute. Curiosity might not be what you follow up on with a Google search. But is it the thing that prompts you to wonder why.

After a little reflection, I realized there is a lot I am curious about, such as people and their stories, ideas and how they are communicated, technology and its impact on my life. These aren't things I actively research or write about regularly. But they are often behind the things that make me wonder.

Curiosity is harder to define than passion. It changes, ebbs and flows. It's likely not something we reflect on often, which is unfortunate. These past few weeks that the question has been echoing around my brain have been a fascinating exercise. It's something I should do on a more regular basis.

What are you curious about?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Unchosen: The Graduation Invite

Sometimes I'm really bad at predicting which design a customer is going to choose. And that leaves me with some of my favorite designs unclaimed. I'm going to start highlighting some unclaimed designs here in the blog, as well as some of my favorite designs that were chosen. I'm pretty proud of my concoctions, and I want to show them off! I've been doing a lot of invitations lately, and they are a lot of fun. I'm sticking to the small, intimate parties (no Bridezillas here, please) like bachelorette and graduation parties. My customers have great ideas for themed parties and you just can't find invitations at Target for the "She Got Knocked Up" baby shower. Okay, I haven't done that one yet, but I bet it would be a blast! This unchosen design came from a recent graduation party invitation. The soon-to-be alma mater's colors were green and gold, and the graduate is a big fan of pink. That's where the color scheme came from. Because it was a ...
Post a Comment
Read more

This week's thank you: The person who makes time

Time by Stefanos Papachristou on Flickr CC BY NC I used to work at a bank where birthday and work anniversary notes from executives were part of the company culture. Even with about 350 people on staff, the executives made a point to know everyone who worked there. During my seven years at the company, I did informational interviews like mad. At least once a month, I picked up the tab for lunch to learn from someone I admired. Pretty much every executive at that organization made time for me at least once. I'm sure they weren't in it for the free lunch. These informational interviews provided me insight into everything from identifying skill sets to working to get myself into the right place at the right time. I've done a few interviews periodically since leaving that company with other people but short of an occasional LinkedIn update, I had lost touch with those executives. During the holiday rush, I ran into one of them at Target. That casual "hello" i...
Post a Comment
Read more

For those who excel at being human

My son is 15 years old. It's a strange age. He is starting to look like an adult. The discussions we have are like talking with an adult, albeit with slightly less life experience. I trust him to cook for himself on occasion and not burn the house down. And yet, at 15, there are so many concerns that seem to hit teenagers harder than most adults. Am I smart enough? Do I look good enough? Am I funny enough? Do people like me? Most people need reminders of the things they do well. It's hard to see when it's something that is part of you and you do it every day. This is even more true for the students in your life. They are wrestling with worries about their future as well as their present. Finals. College entrance exams. Scholarship essays. Scholarship rejection letters. Instagram vacation pictures. Snapchat snide comments. Athletic personal records that surpass theirs. So many ways to feel like they are not enough. And yet, they are still studying. Still trying. Still ac...
Post a Comment
Read more