Does curiosity help?

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How many time have we snubbed a child or been snubbed ourselves for asking questions. I remember being shut down, quite literally, by my manager when I was asking a question in staff meetings. Another manager categorically told me to stop questioning when I wasn’t comfortable with his decision to hire certain people.

 I remember working with an organization which continuously complained about ineffective staff meetings. They complained about their staff members not contributing. What they failed to realize is the extent to which management went to discourage questioning from employees and make it obvious. Employees were ridiculed and laughed at for making a suggestion, new ideas were thrashed and questions belittled. It was no wonder that only a few could survive in that culture and the organization suffered high employee turnover.

What does an ideal situation entail under the circumstances? Would the freedom to ask a question make a difference?

• ·         Given the scenario that questions were discouraged or ridiculed, if the opposite were true, then managers and team members would take initiatives to make people safe to ask questions. – Building trust and confidence
• ·         To invite new ideas where employees would be encouraged to think outside the box and try for unconventional thinking and be encouraged to do so- Initiative and strategic thinking
• ·         A culture can be built by consciously aiming to be open  and supportive. No individual, team or organization is above error but to build a culture of learning from a mistake is what helps people will ask questions without fear.

Somewhere while growing up we are made to believe that asking question is a sign of weakness. Children are also moulded in a similar format. Someone once observed that children have an innate quality to ask 200 to 300 questions per day but by the time they reach adulthood, this reduces to about six questions per day. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, we lose close to 190+ questions per day. Is it not interesting that we stop asking questions for the fear of being judged or for the fear of being misinterpreted?

If organizations can take away this fear from individuals then they can unlock untapped potentials of their employees. Coming back to question what difference will curiosity make to the organization? An organization with a safe, learning culture where strategic thinking is encouraged, will have the support of its employees in its growth and development.