Alice, who follows the white rabbit down the rabbit hole, in ‘Alice Wonderland’ is known for her Curiosity which took her Beyond the realm of possibilities, into a strange and dreamlike world in a journey of self-discovery and a celebration of the imagination. In partnership with TEDxCanberra, and in celebration of Floriade, we are exploring how we can go ‘Beyond’ in the work we do each day, in the relationships we have with the community, and in the life we live; ultimately, how leveraging ‘Curiosity’ can help us to achieve this.
‘Curiosity’ is an interesting concept. As we age, we typically become less curious, perhaps because curiosity is a lower priority as we have less future time1, but if we were to remain curious, we are far more likely to live longer2.
It’s this curiosity we have that is the cause of many remarkable inventions throughout history, and when valued in your business, workplace or teams ensures fewer errors, greater innovation, reduced conflict, better communication and higher performance3.
It can be tough to spark that curiosity. Exploration comes with risk, and the repeated tasks employed to drive efficiency have the adverse effect of removing the opportunity for creative problem solving. We know T shaped employee’s (those with deep knowledge/skills in one area, and a broad base of general supporting knowledge/skills, or in other words, our curious employee’s) and T shaped teams balance curiosity and innovation4, but how do we become more T shaped?
To spark your curiosity, and to think about how you might become more T shaped, we have looked at four of the top ways to build curiosity below.
Ask Questions
What, why, how, huh? Children ask more than 100 questions per hour5, rapidly ideating through new topics, and challenging us to think more about the reasons behind what we may think of as a certainty.
I’ve got a question for you – if curiosity means we live longer, but we reduce the time we are curious as we age, could we theoretically be in an endless loop and live forever if we just asked more questions?
Storytelling in Science Communication | Jarell Cubarrubia | TEDxYouth@Canberra
https://youtu.be/b48wo13MZM0?si=NV-986B_ufXO-lP5
Embrace uncertainty
Change is an everyday occurrence, we all know this now, and agree COVID and the technology revolution certainly accelerate the rate of change. If we are in a constantly changing state, how can we better design ourselves to not just withstand this change, but thrive in it?
How to design antifragile systems | Misha Kaur | TEDxCanberra
https://youtu.be/zFzuyi1XUwo?si=BcqO5Z3E5OgYTbuO
Open Mindedness
Curiosity is borne from the exploration of diverse perspectives and information, by keeping an open mind, and by discovering things you may not otherwise have considered. How can you learn something today, or change your perspectives on something you may have not otherwise considered?
Changing communities with street art | Faith Kerehona | TEDxCanberraWomen
https://youtu.be/CjLF_8vxU5A?si=ah10J51lG31XhgJQ
Connect Ideas
Like Synergy Group and TEDxCanberra, and our collaboration on this topic itself, look for opportunities to connect with those who may not be typically in your network to widen your perspectives, spark curiosity on new topics, or connect the dots on something you have been wondering on. You can join us at TEDxCanberra or stop by the Synergy Group Kombi Coffee for a Cause at Floriade to meet and join our networks.
Impact through creativity | Dan Sultan | TEDxCanberra
https://youtu.be/uj5m2rFeXCY?si=UFcF6ryDr9pY28GS
To find out more, continue to spark your curiosity, or think about where you may take the ‘Beyond’, register now for TEDxCanberra on 7 October 2023 at the Playhouse.
Synergy Group is the proud Principal Partner of TEDxCanberra.
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7925741/
[2] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8893314/
[3] https://hbr.org/2018/09/the-business-case-for-curiosity
[4] https://www.devopsagileskills.org/blog/why-t-shaped-professionals-are-desirable/
