I wonder…

“Wisdom begins in wonder.” –Socrates

I love spending my time with passionate people – whether it’s passion to save the world or passion for the technology to connect it or anything in between.  I love helping them turn that passion into results by improving their everyday interactions and conversations. The great thing about passionate people is they care. They are full of energy and vitality about the thing they care about. Being around them gives me energy and vitality. They want to make a difference about the thing they are passionate about.

And I’ve been noticing something over the past few weeks – passion can lead to certainty.  Certainty that everyone should see things the way we do. Certainty that everyone should care as much as we do. Certainty that our way is THE way.

The thing about all that certainty is that it doesn’t leave very much room for wonder and curiosity.  It’s hard to learn what else might be possible when we’re certain. It’s hard to see what we might be missing when we’re certain. It’s hard to connect with others or find new solutions when we’re certain. When I’m certain, the only option it leaves you is to agree with me or disagree with me. There isn’t much room to explore our views to see what else might be possible.

Here’s a couple of signs that your team or organization might be a little too certain:

• “Because this is the way we do things around here…” is uttered in response to questions about current habits.
• Failure is avoided like the plague (vs. seen as an opportunity for learning)
• People do things out of duty or because ‘they have to’ (vs. because they are excited to)

If you think certainty has replaced curiosity for you or your team, play with what happens when your passion starts the conversation and then you get passionately curious – about someone else’s point of view. And two little words: “I wonder….” might just be the key:

• That colleague who’s always repeating himself – I wonder what he’s trying to communicate that he thinks no one is getting?
• Your boss who has set a crazy, impossible deadline – I wonder, what’s so important to her about having this project done by that time?
• The new guy suggests something that’s been tried, unsuccessfully, before – I wonder, what might be different now?
• Your Aunt Sylvia who’s sure global warming isn’t happening – I wonder what worries her about the climate changing?
• Your teenager who doesn’t want to participate in the family outing – I wonder, how he feels to be a teenager in this family?

I wonder… what might be possible with a little more curiosity and little less certainty?

If you’ve found ways creating a wonder-filled organization or team (or would love to…) I’d love to chat.  Along with my colleagues at Conversant, I’m passionate AND endlessly curious about the topic….

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