One Meeting Minute Thought for Your Week
Instead of asking yourself HOW to stay curious, you may be wondering WHY you should stay curious during meetings.
So before I share what’s worked for me throughout my career, let me give you some motivation.
Why you should stay curious during meetings
There’s plenty of data showing the benefits of curiosity.
Emily Campbell listed these six based on her research:
- Curiosity helps us survive.
- Curious people are happier.
- Curiosity boosts achievement.
- Curiosity can expand our empathy.
- Curiosity helps strengthen relationships.
- Curiosity improves healthcare.
Those are highly important and meaningful for all aspects of life, but this quote from Dorothy Parker may be the most applicable benefit of curiosity when it comes to meetings.
Because boring meetings are the WORST!
The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.
Dorothy Parker
So, the next time you’re bored in a meeting, stay curious.
Here’s how.
4 proven tips to stay curious in meetings
- Remember you don’t know everything
- Pretend you’re in a different role
- Think on a different level
- Stay quiet
Stay curious by remembering you don’t know everything
I like the first definition of the word “curious” from Dictionary.com.
“eager to learn or know; inquisitive.”
Dictionary.com
This definition reminds me of this short clip that contains what may be the best line of the classic Movie, Rudy.
Father Cavanaugh says this: “Son, in 35 years of religious study, I have only come up with two hard incontrovertible facts: there is a God, and I’m not Him.”
Hopefully, I don’t have to convince you that you also are not God – which means you are already aware of the innate limitation you have as a human.
You don’t know everything.
That reality helps me stay humble when I’m tempted to listen to my dangerous ego and you probably feel the same way.
So, to stay curious in a meeting, start by reminding yourself that even when it feels like you know absolutely everything about the problem you’re trying to solve, you don’t.
The other People in the meeting have information you don’t have.
Your observations and interpretation of a scenario aren’t comprehensive.
You have more to learn.
And so do your coworkers.
Even with all the knowledge collected in the minds present, there are undiscovered aspects of the topic you’re dealing with.
Of course, you may not NEED to explore these nuances more deeply to accomplish the Purpose of the meeting.
But, to foster curiosity during a meeting, remember you could.
And if your curiosity causes you to realize you DO need to understand a topic better, try this next tip that works well for me.
Stay curious by pretending you’re in a different role
If the meeting you’re in was designed well, you know exactly why you were invited and the contribution the meeting owner is expecting you to deliver.
The roles of every person attending are clear.
You know how YOU will contribute to accomplishing the Purpose of the meeting.
But you’re not the only participant in the meeting.
Your coworkers have roles to play as well.
If you were asked to fill their role, could you do it?
Here’s an example.
Pretending you’re in the role of meeting note taker
For instance, let’s say your role in the meeting is the official note taker. (This is an EXTREMELY important role in every meeting by the way).
To stay curious, as you’re taking notes, pretend for a moment that your job in the meeting is not to take notes but to make the final decision on a critical challenge facing the business.
Do you have all the information you need to make an informed decision?
What knowledge gaps might be preventing you from acting in the best interest of the business and your fellow employees?
There’s a good chance you would need to close those knowledge gaps.
That awareness will spark your curiosity and cause you to expand your mind to consider other perspectives.
Being curious will also have an immediate positive impact to the meeting because it will cause you to be more effective as you’re taking notes.
Because you’ve applied this simple tip to stay curious, you’ll recognize an action item you’re recording needs more clarity.
Or you’ll politely interrupt during the meeting (click here to learn how being the note taker gives you that power) to help the actual decision maker have the information you anticipate them needing.
This is just one example of how to stay curious by pretending you’re in a different role in the meeting.
More examples of different perspectives
Here are some other ideas on other perspectives you can temporarily take on to stay curious:
- The person who asked a question. What’s their motivation for asking their question? What information are they seeking and how will it help them be more effective?
- The person answering the question. How is the person responding to the question feeling? Are they confident in their answer? Is their reply solid and trustworthy?
- The highest-ranking person in the room. If you were at this level in the organization, what would be on your mind?
- The newest member of the team. What does the person who just started with the company need to know to be successful in this meeting? What important blind spots might they be seeing that seasoned veterans are missing?
This exercise will help you think beyond yourself and your current role in the meeting or in your organization.
By taking the opportunity to pretend you’re in a different role, you’re preparing yourself to be more successful in future roles.
Because some day you may not be pretending you’re the highest-ranking person in the room, you may be the CEO!
And, if you do have plans to be leading a business or even a department, you’ll want to practice this next strategy.
Stay curious by thinking on a different level
During any given meeting, you’re working at a specific level.
Some meetings, like Quarterly Offsite Reviews, are focused on doing higher level, strategic work while others such as Daily Standup meetings are concerned about the specific, detailed tasks to be accomplished in the short term.
As I outline in this article, Patrick Lencioni also calls these levels as meeting “altitudes.”
You can apply the Six Types of Working Genius productivity tool to ensure you and your teammates stay focused on the right discussion topics too.
This practice will ensure you’re working at the right level to accomplish the Purpose of each meeting you’re in.
You can also use this concept of “levels” or “altitudes” to stay curious during meetings.
By intentionally shifting your mindset from one level to another, you will notice nuances of the work you might be missing.
For instance, when you’re in a tactical, low-altitude meeting where those with the Working Genius of Tenacity are in their element driving tasks to completion, you can pause and view the conversation differently for a moment.
To stay curious, you might ask yourself, especially if you have the Working Geniuses of Wonder and Discernment, questions like these:
- What’s missing from this picture so far?
- What is it we’re not seeing?
- What do we need more clarity about?
The Kansas Leadership Center (KLC) teaches a similar message through the imagery of a ballroom.
Ballroom levels
In this short video, the KLC team talks about moving from the dance floor to the balcony to gain a better perspective. “On the balcony” is the zoomed-out view that’s required at times to be an effective leader.
Being on the balcony provides these three benefits and more.
- Visibility of the systems and patterns at play with the team and the organization. We can’t see these things on the dance floor. We’re too close.
- Awareness of how we are personally involved in the situation. We can step outside ourselves and have a more objective view of our own behavior.
- Reminder of the bigger, more valuable issues that need to be addressed. The work on the dance floor is important but not most important.
As Ed O’Malley stated in the video, an effective leader has to be able to “separate yourself, to give yourself space.”
So to stay curious during meetings, move off the dance floor to the balcony.
And, vice versa when you’re in a high-altitude meeting.
When those with the Working Geniuses of Wonder and Invention are busy brainstorming, take a moment to consider the perspective of a coworker with Enablement and Tenacity as their Working Geniuses.
By thinking at different levels during meetings you can stay curious and engaged.
Stay curious by staying quiet
Finally, the simplest (but often the most difficult) way to stay curious during a meeting is to stay quiet.
Talk less and listen more.
When we’re talking, we’re telling others what we already know. And that doesn’t promote curiosity.
But, when we’re listening to truly understand, we’ll stay curious and want to know more and more about our teammates’ perspective.
We’ll stay curious as we realize just how much we can learn from others.
More Resources to Help You Build Your Career and Your Business
Learn more about my experience with the Six Types of Working Genius model and the benefits it will bring you and your business in this article:
🔷 How to Recognize the Benefits of the 6 Types of Working Genius Model
I shared more about the idea of shifting your mindset between levels or altitudes in this article:
🔷 How to Serve Your Team by Zooming Out
Asking powerful questions will help you stay curious while also satisfying your curiosity. And this skill will make you a more effective leader.
If you’d like to know some of my favorite questions to ask during meetings, you can find them in this article:
🔷 How To Ask Powerful Questions – Getting Started
Giving credit where credit’s due, this article was inspired by a conversation between two of my favorite content creators, Dave Stachowiak – host of the Coaching for Leaders podcast and Michael Bungay Stanier.
Michael is the author of some of my favorite books including “The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More, & Change the Way You Lead Forever” and “The Advice Trap – Be Humble, Stay Curious & Change the Way You Lead Forever.”
You can listen to Michael and Dave discuss a section of the book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie in this episode of Michael’s podcast, 2 Pages with MBS.
And Now a Word from Our Sponsors
I mentioned it above as a resource you might appreciate, but I’ll highlight it again here.
Michael Bungay Stanier’s book, “The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More, & Change the Way You Lead Forever” has helped me stay curious in my meetings and in my work as an Executive Business Coach.
I highly recommend getting a copy for yourself.
It’s an entertaining, quick read I’m confident you’ll enjoy and learn from.
And, The Coaching Habit is where I discovered the Dorothy Parker quote about curiosity!
That’s All for this Issue
Based on my experience, I can confidently tell you that staying curious during a meeting will make your time working with your colleagues more productive and effective.
These 5 tips work for me and I know they’ll work for you too.
5 proven tips to stay curious in meetings
1. Remember you don’t know everything
2. Pretend You’re In A Different Role
3. Think on a different level
4. Stay Quiet
Let’s lead with kindness and confidence!
Greg
Here are 3 ways I can help you when you’re ready:
- Get more free resources you can use today (Click here to Start)
- Improve on your own with digital courses (Click here to Improve)
- Accelerate your progress with coaching (Click here to Accelerate)
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