My husband and I were brainstorming on a new project for our business last week. As we were wrapping up our discussion both of us were commenting on how great it was and how excited we were about the next steps. It got me to thinking on why. And what I realized was we both were asking LOTS of questions, neither one of us were attached to an exact way it needed to be tackled and it set us up to explore different ideas and approaches without getting defensive or lobbying for a particular “result”.

As a leader, its exactly what you want to experience with your team. We know curiosity and creative thinking are a good thing and yet, there are so many things that pop up to thwart curiosity at work. We’re working under pressing deadlines, time doesn’t feel abundant, we think we know the answer already, or we’ve tried “that” before and it didn’t work. In our efforts to be a “good leader”, we often are really quick to give answers and inadvertently squash further discussion. In general, we are measuring and tracking productivity and results that drive us to be uber efficient in a way that makes asking more questions or taking more time feel wasteful. I promise you I’m guilty of all of the above and more.

And still I am continually striving to be curious first.

“The best in business have boundless curiosity and open minds.”

— Robin Sharma, Author, Leadership Expert

As a leader (whether you are the “boss” or not), asking questions allows you to clarify what someone is thinking and collect more ideas and perspectives. Francesa Gino, the head of Negotiation, Organizations and Markets unit at Harvard Business School, researched and concluded that curiosity led to fewer decision-making errors, reduced group conflict, more open communication and better team performance, and more innovation and positive job changes.

I challenge you to be intentional about modeling and fostering curiosity. Look for ways to make it safe for team to ask questions and look for new / better ways of doing things. Here are a couple of simple tactics you can use with your team.

Consider a change of scenery. Literally physically changing where you are working from can help you shake up the “norm” and open you up to new ideas. (By the way, this works when you are working by yourself too. If you find yourself stuck, get up and away from your desk or usual workspace, take a walk, work outside and then tackle the problem again).
Change your perspective. Look at the challenge from the customers point of view or “swap” places with the people you are working with and look at it from their point of view instead of your own. If I were “operations” this is what I’d be thinking and vice versa, if I were the “manager” this is what I’d be thinking, etc. It’s helpful to look at an issue from a different persons/departments’ perspective to get yourself out of one way of seeing a problem.

Remember, consistency is key. Consistency is what will foster an environment where it is safe to raise issues and challenge how something is being done. It can be vulnerable to ask questions. People do not want to look dumb or uninformed in front of their boss or peers.

So pay attention, be consistent, make it safe to ask questions and reward and reinforce curiosity. Whether it’s in a project kick off meeting designed for brainstorming or in a project status meeting when something is not working, questions and curiosity will be your friend. It will help you to be less defensive and more open to seeing possibility in a new way.