Curiosity is at the heart of our internal reward system and, far from getting us into trouble, it brings us pleasure, excitement and success. Building your Curious Intelligence can also help you expand empathy, reduce conflict, stimulate innovative thinking and strengthen relationships.

Here is the why and how.

Curiosity marks the beginning of the creative process

By questioning the status quo, or by searching to understand something new, we open our minds to new worlds and opportunities, to new ways of thinking, looking and being. This builds our skills in innovative thinking, idea generation and creative problem solving.

Curiosity is a foundational component of learning

The neural pathways of curiosity prime the brain’s learning circuits, creating stronger neural activation and increasing our ability to learn. Developing our Curious Intelligence allows us to learn new skills quicker and with more ease and efficacy.

Curiosity is at the centre of our ability to build strong relationships

By listening with curiosity – with the intent to truly understand – our Curious Intelligence enables us to park judgement and seek genuine reasoning and emotions in others. This allows us to build deep bonds that lead to greater opportunities for powerful collaboration and friendships.

Curious Intelligence is at the heart of self-management

Shifting our own habits requires curiosity into our nature. By being curious about why we are feeling a certain emotion, or acting a certain way, we become aware of the reasons for our thoughts and actions. This self-awareness gives us the control to manage our emotions and behaviours, and nurture good habits of self-care and empathy.

Curiosity brings pleasure

As an integral part of our natural reward system, being curious releases dopamine and brings a sense of pleasure.

In short, being curious makes us feel great!

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The Yurt Academy has designed a half-day masterclass entitled Developing Curiosity and Agility to offer individuals, teams and organisations the tools, tips and techniques they need to redevelop curiosity and achieve unique growth and development opportunities.

Contact us to discuss running the masterclass with your team or join a public masterclass at our next London Open Academy session.

For more info and to sign up: Developing Curiosity & Agility Masterclass, April 14th 2020, LONDON

Image by Menno de Jong from Pixabay

This article was originally published in the Hove & Brighton Independent