Curiosity-Driven Growth

There are two types of curiosity that shape your early career growth: individual curiosity and shared curiosity 🤝 Both matter, and understanding the difference and importance of the two will help you navigate your professional development more strategically. Individual curiosity is what you explore on your own. It includes the articles you read, the skills you teach yourself, and the questions you pursue independently. Individual curiosity builds the foundation of your professional identity development and positionality. It demonstrates initiative, exemplifies self-direction, and helps you build knowledge at your own pace. Shared curiosity happens in community with others. It involves asking questions in meetings, seeking mentorship, learning from colleagues, exploring ideas collaboratively. This is where your growth accelerates. When you're curious with people who have more experience and different skillsets, you gain context, nuance, and perspective you can't get from thinking alone. Early career professionals often spend too much time (situational or not) on individual curiosity because they don't want to "bother" anyone, look inexperienced, or don't have the people around them to support them. But, shared curiosity is how you learn the things that you can't find a course or textbook. It gets at the nuance that's difficult to unpack on our own. It's the unwritten rules, the strategic thinking behind decisions, and the "why" behind the "what." Here are a few questions to ask yourself as you engage in individual and shared curiosity. ➡️ Am I asking enough questions at work, or am I defaulting to figuring everything out alone? ➡️ Who are the people I can be curious with and learn from? ➡️ Am I creating space for others to be curious with me? ➡️ Am I committed to my own professional growth? What about the collective professional development of my team? You need both individual curiosity and shared curiosity to be an incredible early career professional 💼

Nothing like a good Retreat to get the mind working reflectively on some principles of PD. Here are a few (ok, seven): Chris Dalton’s 7 Rules for Personal Development & Self-Awareness (for now, anyway). ❔ 1. Stay Curious: Question the Question Curiosity is not about answers. It's about interrogating the structure of the question itself. Every question carries assumptions, shaping the kinds of answers we consider possible. I’ve learned that when I pause to ask, “What’s behind this question?” or “What is this question assuming?” I often uncover far more than if I rushed to an answer. Curiosity grows when we challenge the way we frame our questions. 🤔 2. Expand Possibility: develop strong critical thinking, not strong opinions. Strong opinions close doors; strong critical thinking keeps them open. When I engage with new ideas, I aim to say “yes, and...” to what I encounter. What can I build on? What patterns can I explore? Learning happens in that space between conviction and flexibility, where I can tolerate ambiguity and contradiction without rushing to easy conclusions. 🚶♂️➡️ 3. Just start walking, and own the path (even when lost). Meaning isn’t inherent in the world around me. It’s something I construct through movement, through decisions, through risk. The path is only visible because I walk it. That’s when insights emerge. 🗺️ 4. Make maps of the territory, and don't mistake the map for the real thing. The models I construct to navigate life (mental, conceptual, or literal) help me make sense of the world, and they are not reality itself. A good map is useful, and it can never be complete. I remind myself that I am always working with a partial view and that my willingness to redraw my maps determines how well I adapt. 🙊 5. Listen with all your senses, and remember that what you sense is news of difference. I aspire to listen with my whole self. I generally fail. Information isn’t static; it exists in contrast. I notice how a sound stands out from silence, how a pattern forms against randomness, or how an idea sharpens when placed next to another. The moment I stop noticing difference, I stop learning. 🦸 6. Find your superpower, then wield it responsibly. We all have access to something that, when sharpened, can become our unique value. A talent without awareness is a liability. You cannot define a superpower as a strength unless you know when and how to use it with virtue and wisdom. It will be something you don't brag about. I'm not going to tell you mine. Keep yours to yourself. 🧘 7. Develop Systemic Awareness, Not Just Self-Awareness Socially, I am an individual because I am part of a system. My choices, actions, and beliefs exist in a web of relationships, organisations, and cultures I shape and am shaped as. Self-awareness alone isn’t enough; I need to see the larger patterns, the structures, and the forces at play.

Curiosity is underrated. Especially when it comes to mindset. When something feels off, we often jump straight into fixing mode. What’s the solution? What’s the fastest way forward? But sometimes, the most effective shift starts with a question, not an answer. 👉 What else could be true here? This is where curiosity becomes a mindset tool. Instead of locking into assumptions or running with a single perspective, curiosity invites us to pause and explore. It opens space between trigger and response. It allows us to notice our default stories and consider new ones. And it nudges us from judgement to possibility. From a psychological perspective, this is known as cognitive flexibility. It refers to our ability to adapt our thinking in response to new information. It is linked to problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and long-term wellbeing. So next time you feel stuck, try swapping self-criticism or certainty for curiosity. It might not change the situation, but it will change how you experience it. And that change can lead to everything else. 🧠 If you want to build a mindset that supports both performance and wellbeing, curiosity is a good place to start.

When I started as a founder, I thought I knew it all. I was wrong... I soon learnt that the best founders have one thing in common: They never stop learning. And not just from mentors or advisors. - They read books.  - They listen to their teams. - They process their setbacks. In my experience, curiosity has been one of the most valuable traits in my entire career. It's what kept me evolving while building HomeServe, and it's what I look for in every founder I back through Growth Partner. Here's what I learnt about curiosity over 30 years: Early in your career, curiosity helps you understand your market. Before I even started my fishing fly business, I placed an £8 advertisement in Trout and Salmon Magazine to see if anyone wanted and called for a copy of my mail order catalogue. I got 25 calls. That was my market research done. When those fishermen's wives said my colourful flies would make nice earrings, I listened. That single comment led to a high fashion business. I've always been driven by what customers think.  Reading complaint letters, listening into call centre conversations, and getting out in the field. That curiosity about customer needs has shaped every business decision I've made. Later in your career, curiosity stops you becoming irrelevant. The moment you stop learning is the moment your business starts dying. If you want to develop curiosity as a trait: 1. Have one learning conversation each week.  Sit down with someone in your team, especially those outside your senior circle. 2. Read across disciplines.  Great ideas don't just come from business books. 3. Encourage challenge.  If nobody disagrees with you, you need to rethink who's on your team. 4. Reflect regularly.  Ask yourself what you learnt this week, what worked, and what didn't. You can't ask your team to keep evolving if you've stopped. That's why curiosity sits at the top of my list of entrepreneurial characteristics. I'd be interested to know what you're doing to stay curious.  Share your thoughts in the comments. ♻️ Repost to inspire others in your network.  And for more on how to keep learning while building,  Follow me Richard Harpin. 

Most leaders talk to prove they know. Great leaders ask questions that make others think. If you want to change minds, shift direction, or unlock ideas: Don’t make a statement. Ask a better question. A well-timed question can: → Challenge old thinking → Create clarity in chaos → Unlock the truth others avoid The right question is more powerful than the right answer. Here is what to do: 1. Start with curiosity, not judgment ↦ Don’t use questions to trap or test ↦ Ask to understand—genuinely ↦ Curiosity disarms. Judgment shuts people down 2. Ask questions that slow people down ↦ The best questions create reflection, not reaction ↦ Try: “What are we assuming here?” ↦ Try“What would we do if we weren’t afraid?” 3. Use silence to let it land ↦ Ask your question—then stop talking ↦ Resist the urge to fill the silence ↦ Let it hang. That’s when the truth shows up 4. Don’t ask to be clever. Ask to be clear ↦ You’re not here to impress ↦ You’re here to unlock better thinking ↦ Simple, direct questions go deeper than fancy ones 5. Ask questions that reveal ownership ↦ Instead of: “Why did this fail?” ↦ Try: “What would you do differently next time?” ↦ The first places blame. The second creates learning 6. Flip the lens ↦ Great leaders help people see differently ↦ Try: “If you were in their shoes, how would this feel?” ↦ Try “If this goes well, what does success look like?” 7. End with a forward pull ↦ Don’t stop at reflection—create movement ↦ Ask: “What’s the smallest step we can take today?” ↦ Ask: “What would extraordinary look like here?” Save this before your next leadership meeting. What question changed the way you think? ♻️ Share this post to inspire other leaders And follow Andrea Petrone for more.

💡 The Underrated Skill in Tech: Asking Better Questions Early in my journey, I thought growth came only from solving harder problems. But over time, I’ve realized: it’s not just about the answers you give, it’s about the questions you ask. ✔ Asking “Why is this designed this way?” often led me to understand systems more deeply. ✔ Asking “What trade-offs were considered?” taught me to think like an engineer, not just a coder. ✔ Asking “What can I do better?” opened doors to mentorship and honest feedback. In tech, curiosity isn’t just nice to have—it’s a superpower. The people I admire most aren’t the ones with all the answers, but the ones who never stop questioning. So next time you’re stuck, instead of only chasing the right solution— 👉 Try chasing the right question. #GrowthMindset #Learning #TechJourney #tech #journey #google

My team has stopped asking questions. They now wait for instructions. A leader shared this observation at last Thursday’s Melbourne Business School - Retail & Consumer Goods panel. It perfectly captured the curiosity crisis facing our industry in an uncertain operating environment. In a brilliant conversation with Adam Murphy 🌻 , moderated by Lenny Chudri, GAICD, we explored how to reignite innovation when uncertainty is our new normal. Here is what resonated most: 1. The 5-Question Rule That Changed Everything At a global FMCG giant, we were stuck. Innovation had become theatre, all talk, no breakthrough. So we tried something radical: “Curiosity Time”. Rule: For one hour every Friday, you could ONLY ask questions. No answers. No solutions. Just questions. The first session was painful. By week six? We had identified three breakthrough opportunities worth $5M. 🎯Try this tomorrow: Start your next meeting with 5 minutes of questions only. No answers allowed. 2. When Budget Cuts Forced Our Best Innovation Leading innovation at a major CPG company, I faced a 30% budget cut. Instead of scaling back, we asked: “What would we do if we had 10% of the budget?” That constraint forced us to partner with suppliers in ways we never imagined. We reduced a 12-18month innovation cycles to 3 months. The result? Our most successful launches that decade. Key insight: Every constraint hides an opportunity. 🎯 List your top 3 constraints right now. Pick one. Ask “How might this force us to be brilliant?” 3. The $8M Mistake That Taught Me Everything Years ago, I led a “perfect” innovation project. Great consumer research. Flawless execution. It failed spectacularly. Why? We had curiosity at the top but killed it everywhere else. Only 24% of employees feel curious at work, yet curiosity increases creativity by 34%. That gap is your innovation problem. At my next role: We measured “learning velocity” alongside EBIT. We celebrated fast failures publicly. We made questioning as important as delivering. 🎯 Your move: Ask your teams: “What are we pretending not to know?” Then actually listen. After commercialising 1,200+ innovations globally, from establishing industry-first research hubs, I know this: Curiosity is not a nice to have. It is your sustainable competitive advantage. Sharing this handy question. ❓If your biggest competitor had your constraints but twice your curiosity, what would they do differently? Some 📸 from an inspiring evening of #learning and #unlearning. Lenny Chudri, GAICD Adam Murphy 🌻 Innovation Gamechangers University of Melbourne Melbourne Business School #curiosity #innovation

I was asked recently how my career has led to this… this was my response: #Change is inevitable. #Learning is essential. #Curiosity is the bridge between the two. In every organisation I’ve worked with, the same tension appears: we want progress, but we fear disruption. We want innovation, but we cling to certainty. Yet change and learning are not separate conversations — they are deeply intertwined. Change demands learning. When markets shift, technologies evolve, or cultures transform, the real challenge isn’t the change itself — it’s whether we are willing to learn our way through it. And learning begins with curiosity. Curiosity is the quiet superpower of great leaders and thriving organisations. It’s the willingness to say: • What if we’re wrong? • What might we be missing? • What could this become? Curiosity shifts us from defensiveness to discovery. From control to exploration. From fear to possibility. The organisations that flourish in uncertain times are not the ones with all the answers. They are the ones asking better questions. When we cultivate curiosity: • Change becomes less threatening. • Learning becomes continuous. • Growth becomes cultural. So perhaps the real leadership question isn’t, “How do we manage change?” It’s, “How do we nurture curiosity?” Because when curiosity thrives, learning follows. And when learning becomes habitual, change becomes an opportunity — not a crisis.

The most curious people in your company aren't asking questions. I learned this the hard way. Last year, we were hired by a tech startup whose innovation had flatlined. The founder was frustrated: "We hired the smartest people we could find. Why aren't they contributing ideas?" So I did something unusual. Instead of running a workshop, I spent a week just observing. What I discovered changed everything I thought I knew about curiosity at work. 🔍The marketing director had revolutionary ideas about customer behavior but only shared them with her closest colleague during coffee breaks. 🔍 The product manager saw three major flaws in their development process but mentioned them only in private Slack messages to his team. 🔍 The finance lead had identified a massive cost-saving opportunity but kept it to herself because "it wasn't her department." Every single person was brimming with curiosity. They just didn't trust the environment enough to voice it publicly. Here's what the World Economic Forum 2025 report won't tell you: Curiosity isn't disappearing from workplaces. It's going underground. Your brightest minds are asking questions just not to you. They're asking in hallways. In private messages. During lunch. Anywhere that feels safer than the conference room. This isn't a skills gap. This is a trust gap. And trust gaps cost organizations their competitive edge. COMB's approach is different. We don't teach curiosity. We excavate it. For nine years, COMB has been developing soft power skills; curiosity, psychological safety, trust-building, and cross-functional collaboration across organizations and teams in Indonesia and Singapore. Long before WEF identified these as critical economic skills, we've been solving the root cause: environments that suffocate the very innovation they claim to want. Because when people feel genuinely safe to voice their questions: 💥 Innovation moves from coffee breaks to boardrooms 💥 Problems get solved before they become crises 💥 Cross-departmental insights finally surface 💥 Your smartest employees start acting like it That tech startup? Six months after building psychological safety, their product roadmap completely transformed. Not because we brought in new talent because we unlocked the talent already there. WEF calls curiosity an economic skill. COMB calls it your hidden competitive advantage. The question isn't whether your people are curious. The question is whether they trust you enough to show it. Lead Beyond Yourself. Rise Beyond Limits. Where are your best ideas hiding? And what would change if they felt safe to come out? Ready to excavate the curiosity already in your organization? Let's talk. #softpowerskills #innovation #teamperformance #trustbuilding #futureofwork #cassandracoach

A CEO I work with ends every speech, presentation or idea shared with one question: “What have I missed?” Not “Any questions?” Not “Are we good?” But a direct invitation to surface what wasn’t said. That question changed the room. People stopped performing agreement. They voiced the gaps, the discomfort, the concerns they were holding back. Psychological safety expanded because curiosity, not certainty, was leading. Most leaders perform confidence. This one practices clarity. And the ripple effect is profound. His teams tell him the truth and he doesn’t get fragile with constructive (or any) feedback. The team takes ownership. They build better. The organisation moves with coherence. It is the kind of workplace that could be studied in business schools. I am proud to have co-created that prompt with him. And now, in our leadership sessions, he asks me the same question. “Chisom, what have I missed? Challenge me. What am I not considering?” More leaders need to hold space like this. Clarity grows where curiosity lives.