LTYM - Dat?

Letters to a Young Manager

Dat?, #567
LTYM > Innovation

Dear Adam,

***

Being curious about things is probably one of the most important traits in being successful in a career. Wanting to dig into something, how does that work? And why is this the case? What's the problem here? Can we construct an experiment, or whatever, to get to an answer, or answers plural. But that foundation in curiosity is something that we're all born with. But somehow the school system sort of stamps it out of us. It's that and the sense of wonder. So curiosity is the “why”, why is this happening? And then wonder is the astonishment of “oh”, look at that!

I remember my granddaughter when she was just starting to walk. She was probably about 11 months old, and she would walk around my home office and just point at things and say, dat? D-A-T, which was short for “what's that?” Dat? And so that was basic curiosity. And then if she made something happen and it was like, “Oh!” That's' a surprise. Those are two basic drivers that we're born with, and cultivating those in a work environment is really a powerful thing. You'll find that you get far more job satisfaction, if you can satisfy your curiosity and have a sense of wonder at making things happen.

So ask why often. And expect to be astonished at what you find.

***

Sincerely yours,
Ed

________________________

References...

Takeaways:

Ask dat? And be open for a surprise

Discussion Questions:

1. How many experiments are you running this month?
2. When someone on your team is curious about something, what's the next thing that happens?
3. What's the last thing your boss was astonished to learn? How about you?

For Further Reading:

(little creator, she)

She holds her tiny hand
out from her station
in a sea of toys,
arm extended to the point
of a finger not larger
than the barrel of a pencil.
it is her sign,
mostly of curiosity,
to know what it is,
she punctuates with
an emphatic "dat?"
but also a bond
and call
to her grandfather
who has paused
and leaned over
from his cluttered desk
across the barrel ceiling
of space and time
from here to there
finger extended
to touch her outstretched
point of self.
glowing, connected
in a timeless portrait
of the moment,
grandpa, "dat?"

27 Apr 95
Michelle was 11 months old! She was born 5/26/94