How do you respond to a world that feels more complex, and uncertain? Put your head in the sand, do the same, peddle faster, hoping it goes away? As silly as that sounds, many executives and professionals do this even while they talk eloquently about their context.
A better approach is to double down on your curiosity. At work this means being more curious about the needs and expectations of your customers, the dynamics of the workplace, the wider system you operate in and your own ways of thinking.
There are obvious things you can do: ask more questions, seek out new people to spend time with, learn new skills, spend time in new places (virtual or physical). It means being able to handle the feeling of being uncomfortable and out of your depth. It also means opening your mind to new possibilities, overcoming your limiting assumptions.
Curiosity is the topic I discuss with my guest Francesca Gino, Professor at Harvard Business School. I've long admired her work. I selected her superb book Rebel Talent in my review of the best Strategy Books in 2018 for Strategy+Business.
Links to further resources
Francesca Gino is an award-winning researcher who focuses on why people make the decisions they do at work, and how leaders and employees have more productive, creative and fulfilling lives. She is a Professor at Harvard Business School and the author, most recently, of “Rebel Talent: Why it Pays to Break the Rules in Work and Life.”
For more details of her work see: https://francescagino.com/
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