Building Confidence Through Curiosity
Curiosity keeps popping up in my work, and as I was doing some research, I stumbled across a surprising — though on second thought, perhaps obvious — connection between curiosity and confidence.
Curiosity is the intrinsically-motivated process of exploring and learning. It’s about being open and willing to take in learned information. Kids are such a classic example of pure curiosity. They’re constantly trying and learning from their attempts in order to build a body of knowledge that reinforces their abilities and capabilities.
Curiosity is really just a perspective — it’s a particular way of looking at and responding to a situation. It’s a choice of how we relate to the world around us.
Confidence is that sense of self-trust and resourcefulness, especially in the face of new and ambiguous situations. It’s feeling like “I’ve got this”; that you’re able to handle whatever comes your way.
Confidence comes from our knowledge of who we are and our belief in what we can do.
Confidence and curiosity are self-reinforcing because the more confident you become, the more you’re willing to try and explore; and the more you try and explore, the more you learn about yourself and your capabilities. How cool is it that if you put your energy into taking a more curious perspective that you’ll also make gains in confidence?
Having confidence in yourself has big implications. Those who are self-confident are:
more likely to seize opportunities and reach full potential
better equipped to handle disappointments and setbacks, and keep moving forward
generally happier and report a higher level of life satisfaction
Now that you’ve been convinced that curiosity is worthwhile, you might be wondering what that really looks like in the workplace. Here are three ways you can apply a more curious perspective in your work:
Adopt a beginner’s mindset
We are experiencing firsts all the time — we’re constantly taking on new roles, responsibilities, projects, and situations — and often not acknowledging or giving ourselves credit for being a beginner. Brené Brown calls this the FFT (F*cking First Time). By naming and owning our position as a beginner, we can reality check our expectations (“of course this is hard, I’m new at it!”). Also, once you realize you’re new at something, instead of approaching the situation as though you should (or do) already know how to handle it, pause and consider how your skills, strengths, and experience might be adapted to the new situation. Naming and owning your position as a beginner is an act of curiosity.
Experiment & iterate
While alluring (because who doesn’t like to get it right the first time?) the pursuit of perfectionism goes counter to the curious perspective. When you’re building or creating something, try approaching it as a Minimum Viable Product. Ask yourself “what’s the minimum I need to do take the first step?” and think through “What might I learn by trying this or that?” This approach leans into a learning mindset (instead of a knowing one), which will ultimately allow you to build better things with less effort and more curiosity.
Gather information for understanding
We are so quick to add our own filter to information received and with good reason. This approach protects us from mental overload. However, to take a curious approach, we want to first gather information to understand and then filter. Separating these into two steps (instead of allowing them to happen simultaneously) makes us open to information we would otherwise not take in. This is especially true when receiving critical feedback. The next time feedback comes your way, listen to get a clear picture from their point of view before adding in your own judgments, feelings, etc. You don’t have to ultimately agree, but hold off on deciding until you fully understand.
Now that you have some tactics, how might you approach next week’s tasks with more curiosity?