What does curiosity mean as a core value?
Curiosity as a core value means needing to understand the world and the people in it, asking questions and following them up until things make sense.
Curiosity is the itch to know how something works and why it is the way it is. You ask the question other people let pass, follow a link three pages deep, and find almost anyone’s job interesting if they’ll explain it. As a core value it goes beyond enjoying information: not understanding something actively bothers you. You’re happy to look slow for a moment if it means you understand properly, and a day without anything new to puzzle over feels a little grey.
What does curiosity look like in practice?
- You ask “why do we do it this way?” in your first week in a new role.
- You keep asking a client questions after most people would have jumped to a solution.
- You take things apart, literally or figuratively, to see how they work.
- You get chatting to the taxi driver and come away knowing how their trade works.
- You look something up mid-conversation because you can’t leave the question alone.
When is curiosity overplayed?
Curiosity overdone becomes distraction. Every interesting tangent gets followed, projects are abandoned as soon as they’re understood, and the questions keep coming long after a decision is needed. People can also experience persistent questioning as prying, or as a challenge to their competence. Healthy curiosity knows when to stop gathering and act, and notices whether the other person wants to be explored. A question budget can help: once a decision is due, allow yourself one more question, then choose.
Often confused with
Curiosity vs Learning
Learning is building skill and understanding over time. Curiosity is the spark that asks the question, and it doesn’t always stay for the lesson.
Curiosity vs Wonder
Wonder is being amazed by something. Curiosity wants to know how it works, and the answer is the point.
Curiosity vs Exploration
Exploration takes you somewhere unfamiliar to see what’s there. Curiosity can be satisfied without moving an inch, simply by asking why.
Questions to sit with
- What question have you stopped asking at work because it felt awkward?
- Which person in your life do you understand least, and what would you ask them if you were really curious?
- When has your curiosity cost you focus on something that mattered more?
More values in Wonder
Curiosity, adventure and the thrill of the new.
About the author
Matt Rutherford is a Career and Leadership Coach. The Values Finder is the same exercise he uses with his coaching clients. He also writes Stuff that MattRs, a weekly newsletter with practical ideas to help you think clearer and work better.
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