How Curiosity Leads You Astray and What to do When it Does
Not all questions express genuine curiosity.
#1. Curiosity as resistance:
Perfectly intelligent people feign ignorance as an act of subversive resistance.
“When I don’t want to do something, I ask my boss lots of questions. Usually he ends up giving the assignment to someone else. Or he does it himself.” Anonymous employee
I’ve seen smart people play dumb because they didn’t like what they were hearing.
Politically savvy leaders disguise resistance by asking detailed questions about execution. They don’t like an initiative but don’t want to declare their position. They use the thousand cuts method to kill projects.
#2. Curiosity as control:
Leaders ask questions as a form of control. They don’t want to overtly take control but they have opinions about the best way to do things.
They want people to think for themselves – as long as people think like them.
#3. Curiosity as deflection:
I use questions to keep people talking about themselves. I don’t want to talk about myself so I keep others talking about themselves.
#4. Curiosity as protection:
Experienced leaders ask questions because they see dangers that novices don’t see. Questions give others the opportunity to think about the future and consider unexplored options.
Some questions are designed to help others discover why their plan won’t work.
Ask questions when you hear lots of questions:
- What concerns you about this project?
- What dangers do you see ahead?
- What do you need to know to move forward?
- What am I missing?
Curiosity for clarity:
People who like to get things done need a clear path forward. They don’t like building the airplane in the air. They ask questions because they prefer planning ahead.
Curiosity for clarity feels like resistance to dreamers. If this is you, you’d be smart to work out a better plan with the people who need greater clarity.
What negative forms of curiosity have you experienced?
What could leaders do when they start hearing lots of questions?
What negative forms of curiosity have you experienced?
They just state “They can’t do it”, typically if they don’t want to do the task.
“I have never done that before”! My response it’s “time to learn”. The next option is assign the task to someone who has the experience and attach the individual who does not to be part of the team to learn if that will benefit the organization.
What could leaders do when they start hearing lots of questions? Guide them, to some extent, when working with talented individuals they will figure it out.
Thanks Tim. I don’t know about you, but I prefer the upfront approach. Have a great weekend.
Dan,
Yes sir, upfront is the better in my eyes!
A negative form of curiosity is when one is digging for information or gossip.
When leaders hear lots of questions they could discourage the questions by asking what the purpose of the questions are and what outcome they are looking for then direct them to do their own research.
An employee asked me recently, “How can I start this project when I don’t have the answers I need, and I don’t even know all the questions yet?”
I answered, “You start by showing up, getting in the game, and adding value. When you do this, the answers will become clearer. If you have more questions when you are working on it, then let me know.”
Dear Dan,
A good reality post! Visionary leaders face this problem invariably. The team of executors/SBU Heads have their own reservations starting from the budget allocated to the lack of competent staff and other priority tasks on hand.
We can call it as Curiosity of Obstructions!
Pragmatic leaders usually do anticipate such questions and give them the needed guidance. They even give 3 days time to think over and ask the executing team to come up with possible hurdles and how to overcome the same. Moreover, smart leaders take 3-4 senior management team into confidence on the required future goals for achievement and how these can help in taking a big leap in business. Good planned presentations are done by the core team to convince the key executing staff of various business units.
Excellent post! In my experience, a few leaders have spewed a barrage of questions as a stalling tactic. Possibly they didn’t want to take the time to review the project, they didn’t know the answers (and don’t want to admit it) or they were not on board with the concept. The great leaders in my experience asked some questions and gave the staff time to respond, or they encouraged the staff to get started and asked questions along the way or at milestones.
I find questions guised as interest as a way to avoid doing what’s asked. Delay tactic for sure. I appreciate the questions you listed at the end to use in response to “curiosity.”
Its seems to me this is fake curiosity.