In our last podcast, we began interviewing Lynn Borton, a former nonprofit executive who now focuses her attention on creativity as a business and life tool. This segment completes that interview and focuses on Lynn’s curiosity work.
You can find Lynn’s business at choosetobecurious.com. You can email her at choosetobecurious@gmail.com or borton.lynn@gmail.com. She tweets as @choose2Bcurious. You can also find Choose to Be Curious on Facebook. She’s available on LinkedIn, too.
Lynn mentioned a number of resources on the podcast, including the following:
Ian Leslie, Curious – The Desire to Know and Why Your Future Depends on It
Brian Grazer, A Curious Mind
James Ryan’s Youtube Video, Wait, What?
Lynn also mentioned Todd Kashdan and Tomas Chamorro-Premusic who both write regularly on the topic of curiosity.
Questions:
We previously spoke about your tenure as a chief operating officer at a major nonprofit, a position you held for 12 years. You have pursued a very different path since then, haven’t you? [0:50]
Tell us the story of how you decided to focus on curiosity. [1:08]
How do you define curiosity in your writing and speaking? [4:10]
When I think of a chief operating officer, my mental images of someone who is very process and structure oriented. I’m sure that’s a stereotype. Where their inklings during the time that you were in your nonprofit career that you would one day focus on the personal and professional power of curiosity? [5:03]
Tell us two or three things about curiosity that should make other people curious about it. [7:25]
What are some of the books or other resources that you most recommend when people ask you how they should grow their curiosity? [10:40]
So with this new venture, where you are exploring and developing ideas about curiosity. Have you developed any workshops or interventions that you can provide to organizations that want to foster curiosity within their teams? [13:40]
I’d like to ask you about practical steps that individuals and organizations can take to cultivate their curiosity. Let’s start with individuals. If someone wants to prime their curiosity muscles, what three steps should they start taking today? [18:00]
I am going to ask the same sort of question, Lynn, with respect to organizations. If an organization wants to foster curiosity within their team, what three steps can they take, starting today? [21:20]
What’s the value proposition for an organization fostering curiosity? How will doing so materially benefit their organization? [23:05]
Tell us the story of one regular practice you’ve adopted as a result of this inquiry into curiosity which has changed your life for the better. [24:38]