Often, one sees companies state their values on a their website and on their career pages. As individuals we sometimes reflect on our own values. Needless to say, one thrives in a work environment where the values are aligned.
One such value I’ve reflected recently about, is “Curiosity”.
I’ve always taken it for granted that I am curious person. I like reading up on topics I lack knowledge on, reading books to gain new perspectives, listening to podcasts to learn from experts in the field, etc. During my journey in Favrit, I’ve thought deeply about “being curious” and what it REALLY does! Being curious is about asking questions. The 5-Whys is super useful. Although I have learned that literally saying “Why” doesn’t always elicit the right insights. But curiosity is not just about asking Why – there is more to it. One can, in several ways learn more about context.
So what?
Having said that, what did being curious result in? Based on my experience, here are my three key takeaways.
Curiosity to help build better products
Being a Product-nerd, naturally this comes first. Speaking with customers and understanding their context is crucial. I came into the Hospitality industry without any knowledge of the domain. Speaking with customers and other stakeholders helped me gain an enriched understanding. Curiosity drove me to ask several questions, no matter how dumb I looked, it gave me a lot more context into their workflows. Running some of these user interviews, the CDH way, also helped immensely. As a end result, it helped me make better decisions and better products.
Empower each other through curiosity
It is not uncommon that a CS or Sales exec comes up with a feature request for the product. In Favrit, we’ve built the culture of asking questions upfront to learn more. We also focus on sharing the questions to ask, in order to accelerate learning. It is amazing to see how colleagues in commercial teams have embraced the philosophy and enriched the product development process. Members of the the product team get to learn of different kinds of user-pains that influence the decisions made in the product. This value of curiosity constantly adds new perspective to others that can prove invaluable in their daily work.
Turn Negotiations into Win-Win
As in any early stage company, the pressures of growth are high. There’s an urgency to finding product market fit before the money runs out. There’s the urgency to find more revenue to keep driving growth. During these intense discussions, it has helped in being curious about the other person’s perspective. The end goal is not to make a compromise – but a win-win. There’s one interest book that dives into this from a different angle “Never Split The Difference”. When the person in front knows that the questions “come from a good place”, everyone’s willing to play ball. It has helped turn these small & big negotiations into concrete, win-win solutions.
Bottomline
No matter what the situation, this is one trait I’d love to hold on to and pass on – being curious!