Never Grow Up.
Still in the spirit of the new year, spring in our steps, gyms overpacked and generally still riding the wave of hopefulness that comes with a shiny new year, the one thing that would make a real difference for anyone on the path of growth is curiosity.
I’m reading The Human Side of Innovation by Mauro Porcini. He is the Chief of Design at Pepsico and before that was chief of design at 3M, both one of the most innovative companies in the world both in terms of their products and culture.
In the book, he describes the qualities of innovative people whom he calls Unicorns. He says these are people who are in love with people, who have a genuine fire in them to create meaningful solutions for actual human beings. He details their superpowers so you can find them, hire them, grow them, and retain them, can you guess one of the traits that made the list? You got it; curiosity.
Here are some excerpts from the book; he talks about the importance of curiosity;
“The nineteenth-century Italian poet Giovanni Pascoli crystallised this sublime ability in his poetical work on the young child. We all have this child inside of us in the first years of our lives, but many of us then lose this child along the way, as we grow up. This child allows us to observe the world with innocence, poetry, with a passion that is always fresh and new”
“I came across Pascoli and his inner child back in 1993, at my school desk in Varese. It was an extraordinary revelation because I suddenly became fully aware of the power of the inner child in myself, and I’ve never abandoned him since. Ever since then I have celebrated, nurtured, and protected him. I nurture his curiosity, I celebrate his potential, I protect him from the erosion of the years, from the attacks of a culture that is imposed upon us, from the so-called common sense of the adults surrounding us. True curiosity, the curiosity of the inner child, is what allows you to appreciate everything around you with new eyes, constantly renewing every experience.”
“Curiosity consists in approaching every conversation, interaction, and experience with eyes full of a child’s wonder, always on the lookout for the root causes that move all things, never taking anything for granted—always, constantly, incessantly asking yourself why.”
“Too many people don’t understand that the prowess of asking questions with intellectual and spiritual curiosity is one of the greatest forms of intelligence. It’s a tangible expression of self-confidence and self-awareness, and it’s one of the most powerful catalysts and generators of knowledge”
Not losing the inner child is the not-so-secret sauce to curiosity. Children ask about 300 questions a day, did you know that? Children have no shame. Children have no ego till the world starts banging its judgment gavel down.
Growing old is unavoidable, but never growing up is possible. I believe you can retain certain things from your childhood if you protect them — certain traits, certain places where you don't let the world go.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
Never grow up people!!!!
Curiosity is the ultimate Swiss knife. It is that one “tool” that can improve every single aspect of your life. Every!!!!! Relationship, life, work. Everything.
When you meet people or are in new environments, ask tons of questions. Pretend the person is the most fascinating thing. And when they begin to speak, scrape every preconceived notion or belief out and listen.
The smartest people ask the most questions, really. Questions are evidence of intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, awareness of self and limitations, and the willingness to always be learning.
Keep going,
Ije.