A couple of weekends ago, I popped along to TEDx Glasgow. I loved every minute.
One of the talks really caught my attention – Will Mitchell’s ‘super curious’. Will is a Design Director of 4C Design Ltd, a graduate from The Glasgow School of Art and has spent 15 years working in a wide range of industries as a specialist engineer.
Will’s message was to stop ‘do-ing’ and to stop looking for ‘solutions’. This was difficult message for me to hear. In my day to day work I attend a lot of meetings and am often itching to get out and go get things done, or to support others to get things done.
Listening closer, though, there was a subtly in his message. He focused on learning through constant questioning – in essence, continuing to be ‘super curious’ about the challenges and issues that present in our day to day lives. He explained that in order to move forward and achieve your goals you have to constantly question everything that you encounter. ย He explained that no matter how much you think that you understand about the issue or challenge that you face there is always something new that you can learn. He suggested that getting to know a problem well enough, is in itself an achievement.
Now this, I can relate to.
It got me thinking about the application of this idea in practice – particularly for social services. I think we know broadly what the challenges are. But we are unable to be specific enough. This is because we don’t face problems. We face dilemmas.
Problems can be solved, but dilemmas only managed – this means the problems that we face are not clear cut with cookie cutter ‘solutions’, the dilemmas facing social services instead have grey areas and require responses that will support the issue to change in that particular context.ย This means that the closer we look and the more specific we become in our analysis – the more the ‘problem’ or ‘issue’ will change and become clearer. Lets also not forget to be ‘super curious’ about what is working too. Understanding what makes something a positive experience or service is just as important as focusing on the negatives.
In a different context (energy), the RSA (Royal Society of the Arts) have also been looking at the power of curiosity. ย Their research found that modern lifestyles could put the curiosity we need to drive innovation at risk. It highlights that modern technology is having an impact on our curiosity as it encourages short-term curiosity about a wide variety of topics, but doesnโt promote focus. The RSA argue that both types of curiosity are necessary to stimulate innovation.
In response to the findings, the RSA champion three key recommendations for learners of all ages to cultivate curiosity by:
- Teaching for competencies like curiosity, as explicit educational goals, rather than as beneficial off-shoots of knowledge-based learning.
- Encouraging forms of mental attention, including mindfulness, that make people reflect on things that might not have been noticed.
- Having the opportunity to learn something in considerable depth.
Can we make the space for these kinds of activities in our sector?