A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life by Brian Grazer & Charles FishmanI watched Super Soul Sunday on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) on Sunday, April 19th. Film and television producer Brian Grazer was the guest and his new book, A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life, was discussed.  A few days ago, I purchased the book at The Strand in NYC. (Support your local independent bookstores!) Below, I’ll introduce you to some of the topics in this book and relate them to employee engagement.

 

For more than 50 years, Mr. Grazer has been sitting down with an amazing array of fascinating people. The book devotes an appendix to listing the more than 450 people with which he has met. In each conversation, his goal was to learn more about the person and their humanity. These conversations later influence the projects he produces.

 

Mr. Grazer wrote this book (with the assistance of Charles Fishman) after years of prodding by those closest to him. He wrote it not to talk about his curiosity conversations but about why curiosity is needed. “Curosity has been the most valuable quality, the most important resource, the central motivation of my life. I think curiosity should be as much a part of our culture, our educational system, our workplaces, as concepts like “creativity” and “innovation.”  That’s why I decided to write a book about curiosity. It made my life better (and still does). It can make your life better too.” 1

 

As I started to read it, I began to consider its application to employee engagement.  In Chapter 5: Every Conversation Is a Curiosity Conversation, Mr. Grazer begins to address the need for curiosity in the workplace. “To be a good boss, you have to be curious about the people who work for you. And to be a good colleague, a good romantic partner, a good parent, you have to be curious as well.”2 Why? Because it’s all about human connection and how sincerity, compassion, and trust are all results of being curious.3

 

How do you have a curiosity conversation?  Mr. Grazer offers a few tips:

  1. Start close to home: “relatives, friends, acquaintances, work-related colleagues”4
  2. “Be clear that you want to hear their story. You are not looking for a job, you’re not looking for advice about your own situation or any challenges you are facing. You’re curious about them.”5
  3. “[B]e respectful; dress well; be on time; be appreciative.”6
  4. Be prepared with open-ended questions but don’t be a slave to them. Let the conversation lead you.7
  5. “Don’t share your story or your own observations.”8 You are there to learn.
  6. Respect the time of the person with whom you are meeting.
  7. Say thanks and send a follow-up letter or email that highlights something you learned in the conversation.9

 

Managers should be curious about their direct reports, their manager, and their leadership. I hope you’ll take some of Mr. Grazer’s tips as you start to have your own curiosity conversations. “[T]hey can help you step out of your own world, they can widen your perspective, [and] they can give you a taste of experiences you won’t have on your own.”10

 

 

What do you think about these curiosity conversations? How can you use them to build engagement with your employees.

 

 

1 Grazer, Brian, and Charles Fishman. A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2015. Xiii. Print.
2 Ibid., pg. 133.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid., pg. 259.
5 Ibid., pg. 260.
6 Ibid., pg. 261.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid., pg. 262.
10 Ibid., pg. 259.

 

 

 

Let’s Engage!

 

I’m Agent in Engagement Simpson…Gregory F Simpson.

Employee engagement is a critical mission. I hope I can count on your help! Subscribe to the RSS Feed to receive the latest intelligence/insights and/or register to make entries in the comments log.

 

I'm Simpson....Gregory F Simpson, Agent in EngagementYou can follow me @agtinengagement.
Email me at g…@a…t.com.
Connect via LinkedIn at LinkedIn.com/in/GregoryFSimpson.
Learn more about me at gregoryfsimpson.com.

 

 

P.S.  First contact? Welcome to the Agent In Engagement community. Explore and join fellow employee engagement operatives in targeting a known thief – alias: Disengagement. Together we can bring this thief to justice and make the world a better place for all companies and their employees.

Other recent Agent in Engagement data/reports by Agent Gregory F Simpson: