Recently, I was fortunate enough to see “A Christmas Carol” traveling production in Beaver Creek. As I sat there and heard Ebenezer Scrooge being shown the errors of his ways by the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future, I could not help but wonder why WE can’t have those spirits visit us to wake us up to the need to CHANGE! Granted…in many cases, our playbook did not play out the life we had dreamed of, but IT IS OUR LIFE! So, do we really need a spirit to WAKE UP OUR CURIOSITY, or are we willing to decide that this is the year in which we will allow challenges to our way of thinking, doing things and loving in general, will be welcomed and paid attention to? Of course, not all such recommendations, ideas and suggestions will make sense, but… if we don’t have an open mind to them, fully explore them at face value, in other words, assess and NOT judge them, we will never benefit from the opportunities that present themselves to us.
Realize that the wisdom you acquired over your life may cloud your judgement, and that the innovative thinking of that inexperienced employee (or even grandchild) may hold the key to an incremental change, or even help disrupt the way things are done!
We tend to judge ideas rather than assess them. By that I mean that we allow the sum total of our experiences to cloud our judgement. Instead, if you ASSESS the situation, without allowing the experiences of your past to cloud them, you may see a path that was hidden to you. So wake up your curiosity, assess and don’t judge, and maybe, just maybe, you will share in Ebenezers epiphany and get a new lease on your job and life!

I just watched “Dallas Buyers Club,” a movie in which Don Woodroof, an electrician and sometimes hustler, has contracted AIDS and is given only weeks to live. He does not accept this death sentence and proceeds to find a doctor in Mexico that is giving his clients a concoction of supplements and vitamins to combat this deadly disease.

Intrigued and CURIOUS with the results, he fights a system that is entrenched in a slow and methodical process of approving drugs, while thousands are dying from the disease, even though he is clearly proving that his method is getting far better results than the use of AZT.
It is that curiosity, paired with his tenacity, that propels him to live years beyond the original diagnosis, and it is that same curiosity that has hundreds of people flocking to Colorado seeking the hope of a miraculous cure to their ailments through the use of marijuana derivatives.

I found it so frustrating to see how entrenched the DEA is in enforcing the established procedures in “Dallas Buyers Club,” when there was clear evidence that the alternative methods were producing far better results.

It is that obstinacy to follow established procedures, patterns we are used to and the desire to not rock the boat, that has doomed so many companies, new ideas and innovation in general. What will it take before the DEA is willing to aggressively follow the progress (or lack thereof) of the people now using marijuana derivatives to treat their ailments?

It is my mission to help you break the mold, get you out of the rut and thinking freely, so that you may adapt, innovate and prosper.

From the perspective of the FDA, they where protecting the public by not allowing Don to sell his “cocktail” of pills to his desperate clients. However, their myopic view of the world condemned thousands of people to death, “because they had to follow procedures.”

There is no question that procedures needs to be established to have an orderly process. But you HAVE to implement a process that allows your employees to challenge the current thinking so that you can accelerate change, and ensure that you are not missing opportunities that are smacking you in the face.

As you walk around your place of employment, do your coworkers and subordinates KNOW that you are curious? Are you asking them how things are going? What is not working? What ideas they may have? – If you do…GREAT…but, what do you do with that information? Do you challenge your own beliefs when you hear feedback, or you justify your position? Remember, curiosity alone is worthless! No point in having an open door policy, if you have a closed mind!

If the myth that we use only 10% of our brain were true,then the sad thing is we put that 10% in a rut, and won’t let it challenge your own perspectives, for lack of curiosity! How can we bring change about, if we are not curious about the other side’s perspective? If we are not curious on how to mend relationships Curious about changing a bad habit?
Wake up! Take your brain out of the rut and expand your possibilities, you only use 10% of it after all! Be Curious

Uber has been getting a lot of ink lately. All thanks to the very people that oppose their emergence. The sad thing is, that they will not be able to stop the forward momentum. A couple of weeks ago, I called a Uber car, and the driver told me he owns a limo company. He tries to book the traditional way, but, when that fails, he complements his income by logging into Uber…That man understands change! He realizes it is here to stay, and he might as well join it, than fight it.
So, not all change is so “in your face”, but the question is, what change are you resisting? What change are you not preparing for?
As always…be curious

You’ve heard: “The only constant is change.” While true, I would say that, in today’s world: “The only constant is RAPID change.”

There is no time in history where adaptability has been more important. You either adapt or innovate – or you get left behind.

Also, I believe “embracing change” is simply a cliché that drives us to do nothing. Another overused phrase, “change is about attitude,” also leaves us stranded, as we figure how to change our attitude.

In my keynote presentations, I discuss how CURIOSITY is at the core of any change taking place.

How, you may ask, do I wake up my curiosity?

The answer is fairly simple, but it does take discipline. Curiosity is innate in us. Remember how curious you were as a child? Why, When, and How were part of every phrase you uttered.

Yet, as we mature, we are taught to tone down that curiosity:

“It is not polite to ask.”
“Wait your turn to speak.”
“You will understand this when you are all grown up.”

Unfortunately, these types of phrases have influenced us to tone down our curiosity.

Does wisdom trump creativity? No, I don’t think so.

In fact, early in my career, a manager told me he paid me to DO, not to think!

At another job, my boss grabbed his silver sideburns and told me that, until I had his wisdom, I should stick to doing my work the way I was told!

With these sorts of rebukes, we learn to mind our business – and not step out of line.

But stepping out of line is PRECISELY what you should do!

Curiosity is fun! In the history of humanity, the payoff for curiosity has never been so easy! But being truly curious is not simply about doing some research, challenging the current thinking, or “scratching an itch.”

When you are curious, you need to:

1. Be relentless in your questioning (whether online or in person).
2. Have a completely open mind, so you don’t set out to prove a fact you already decided on, but are earnestly looking for alternatives.
3. LISTEN to your findings!
4. Be able to discern between the easy answer and the hidden one that is preventing you from moving forward.

How does curiosity work in the business world?

Here’s an example: When I arrived as the new CEO & General Manager of the Denver Athletic Club, I soon learned that many club members – avid users of the pool – were unable to swim due to rashes from chemical reactions. Swimmers were leaving our downtown pool and choosing to swim elsewhere.

To me, this was startling news, since it was directly eroding our membership rolls. When inquiring with my staff, I was told that 5% of the population gets rashes in pools. Period. End of discussion.

This sounded plausible, and I could have ended my inquiry then and there. However, I was intrigued why swimmers were getting rashes in OUR pool, but not at the other facilities where they had begun swimming.

So I started asking questions.

The startling answers I received from my employees and pool vendors involved broken pool equipment, “creative” workarounds to achieve healthy ventilation, and even the odd information that homeless people had been using our ventilation ducts to stay warm.

Read my case study to see how asking questions, listening to answers, and implementing appropriate solutions addressed our pool and rash issues – and directly led to increased membership and revenue. Matt, link to the Case Studies page.

I invite you to share your “curiosity at work” story!