Module 3 Lecture: Curiosity and Challenging Our Own Biases

Curiosity and personal or professional effectiveness - what’s the connection? Why would we want to become more curious? After all, we have the old adage “Curiosity killed the cat.”

We tolerate curiosity in children but often feel uncomfortable if adults ask us too many questions. Children are naturally curious. Their young minds are eager to learn and are unhampered by preconceived beliefs. Everything seems new, and it often is as they are encountering ideas and experiences for the first time. But why is it important for adults to be curious?

Leaders from scientists to poets and even entrepreneurs have had much to say about curiosity.

Albert Einstein noted, “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence.” And elsewhere he said, “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”

Walt Whitman, the great American poet commented: Be curious, not judgmental.

And finally, Walt Disney noted: We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.

Curiosity is important for success. Curious people have active minds; they ask questions, seek new opportunities and try to maximize what they learn in every situation. When curious people fail, they reflect on it to learn from the experience (a topic in the next module). Those are skills that bring success on the job.

This course is about learning and practicing proactive behaviors, and curiosity plays a role in that. Curiosity involves being open to new ideas, which may require you to challenge your biases, and that is essential for productive relationships in your personal or professional life.

In recent years, there has been much research on implicit biases and how they affect our lives. “Implicit” refers to thoughts or feelings that exist at the subconscious level, so we may not even be aware we have them. So, “implicit bias” may lead us to act or think on the basis of prejudice and stereotypes without even intending to do so. For example, research has shown that many white people unconsciously associate criminal activity with black people, or a person who consciously believes in equality of genders may still trust feedback from male co-workers more readily than from female ones.

There is a scientific explanation for implicit bias.  Our brains receive millions of pieces of information each second. It’s overwhelming. How can we possibly handle it? Our brain creates shortcuts based on past experiences and preconceived ideas in order to make decisions quickly. In doing that, we exhibit a natural preference for people we perceive as familiar or similar to us. This is known as “in-group bias” or “in-group favoritism.” Given that it is a “natural” response in our brains, we should not feel defensive when our implicit biases are brought to light. We must, however, be willing to work at overcoming them and not letting them influence our conscious decisions. The first step is recognizing our own unconscious bias. Then we must train our brains to make decisions based on objective criteria by putting aside our instinctual feelings so that we can maintain as much impartiality as possible.

Watch the following video for some ways to challenge our biases.:

Can you think of a time when you may have made a decision based on unconscious bias or a time when you felt the effect of such a decision? Most of us have probably experienced both situations.  The readings and activities in this module will help you recognize and challenge those biases whether you receive them or are tempted to give them.