Start with Curiosity (& Not an Answer)
Every significant thing I've built started with a question, not an answer.
I've been paying attention to this pattern for years: the leaders who keep growing well into their careers, that is, those who stay relevant, energized, and genuinely innovative, share one consistent mindset and habit.
They remain curious in rooms where they're supposed to have the answers.
This is actually harder than it sounds. When you become the expert, the trusted leader, or admired executive, there's a quiet pressure to project certainty. To ask only questions you already know the answers to. To suppress the ones that might reveal you're still figuring it out.
But here’s the truth: the best ideas always live in the questions you've stopped asking.
In the Design Your Good Life framework*, curiosity is the first move of the Spark phase. Not talent. Not vision. Not purpose. Not strategy. Curiosity. Because curiosity is what opens the space for ideation and the generation of new possibilities before you've committed to any of them.
Here's what I've noticed: the leaders who suppress their curiosity in favor of efficiency and/or protecting their reputation end up with strategies that are technically sound but creatively limited. They optimize well but innovate poorly. They execute what was imagined, rather than imagining what could be executed.
Curiosity is the antidote to this creative limitation. And it's more of a practice than a personality trait.
Here are three ways to practice curiosity deliberately:
Take time to read outside your immediate industry. Some of the most powerful frameworks will often come from adjacent fields.
Have a weekly "what if" conversation with someone you trust. This should not be a planning session, but rather, a genuine exploration of new ideas, perspectives, and subject matter.
Spend intentional time in unfamiliar environments. Attend a meetup, workshop, or conference outside of your space to observe and learn how others solve problems, view the world, and engage innovation.
What question are you not letting yourself ask right now because it seems too basic, too disruptive, or too inconvenient?
That's usually the right place to start.
*The Design Your Good Life framework can be found in my latest book, Design Your Good Life.