producing curiosity
Curiosity is something we humans can naturally produce.
The question is: how?
Producing Curiosity
activities
ways to increase your curiosity
play question tennis
Here’s an example from Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Here’s a question to get you started: Who are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern anyway?
Most of our thoughts end with a period, not a question. Question Tennis helps us become comfortable asking questions. Two players compete to go without making a statement. You may have seen this on Whose Lines Is It Anyway?
The first player serves a question (“What now?”), for which the second player must respond with another question (“Why don’t you tell me?”). You earns points if the other player responds with a statement (“I’m not going to tell you.”).
start a curiosity journal
Questions activate curiosity. And designers are in the practice of keeping journals. So begin a Curiosity Journal. A few guides:
Left-handed folks: start your journal from right to left to avoid ink or pencil smudge marks.
A few guides to get you started:
- Get a pocket sized journal.
- Use the first page to introduce your journal.
- Every page after that should have only questions.
- Have fun. Sketchnote your questions.
Journaling lets your questions linger longer.
do something new™
My friend Bonnie Pitman initiated her Do Something New™ practice in 2011, which invites the exploration of an ordinary day to make it extraordinary. Select a frequency that works for you: do something new once a day, a week or a month. Start where you are comfortable. Develop a plan that is fun and simple.
Some tips:
- Be kind to yourself and do what is fun and possible.
- Do what gives you joy.
- Keep it simple.
- Stay in the moment.
- Decide if you want to do it daily, weekly or monthly—it is up to you!
- Commit to documentation.
My good friend Brian Sullivan has committed to watching 52 new documentaries each week for 2021.