From Certainty to Curiosity: How We Unlock Innovation and Connection

Now that I am retired, I give myself 30 minutes on Thursday mornings to read through LinkedIn and catch up on the lives and work of my professional friends.

One dear friend has been digging deeply into the Torah and writing about her learnings. Miriam is a Jewish scholar, and her posts always compel me to reflect and ponder.

Last week, she ended her post with a question that stayed with me:

“What would it look like if we approached difficult questions with curiosity instead of certainty?”

It is a question I have been asking for the past year and one that I often bring into my coaching engagements.

So, let’s begin with why curiosity matters. Then, I’ll share a few frameworks you can use to cultivate curiosity and spark innovation in your own life, community, nonprofit, or profession. 

Why Curiosity Matters

Certainty can make us feel safe, but it often builds walls. Curiosity, however, builds bridges. It allows us to sit in complexity, to listen more deeply, and to move toward understanding instead of division.

• In our personal lives, curiosity helps us pause before reacting and ask what someone else might be experiencing.
• In communities, it creates common ground even when values diverge.
• In nonprofits, curiosity reframes obstacles as opportunities for creativity.
• In education, it teaches students that questions themselves are powerful tools for growth.

Curiosity does not undermine expertise. Instead, it enriches our wisdom with openness, empathy, and humility.

Frameworks That Encourage Curiosity and Innovation

If we want to move from certainty to curiosity, we need practical ways to practice it. 

Here are five frameworks that I have used in my life, professional and personal, that you can use to guide you:

1. Beginner’s Mind

Drawn from Zen philosophy, shoshin invites us to approach each situation as if we are seeing it for the first time.

• Ask: What is possible here that I have not considered?
• Ask: What might someone with a different perspective notice?

Application: Invite new voices into discussions. Fresh eyes often see what experts miss.

2. Appreciative Inquiry

Instead of asking, “What is broken?” Appreciative Inquiry asks:

• What is working well?
• What gives life to this system, team, or community?
• How might we build on these strengths?

Application: Nonprofits can reframe scarcity into innovation by focusing on where creativity is already thriving.

3. The 5 Whys

By asking “Why?” five times, we move beyond surface answers and discover root causes.

Application: An educator might ask why a student is disengaged, peeling back assumptions until they uncover real needs.

4. Design Thinking

This problem-solving process centers curiosity and empathy:

1. Empathize
2. Define
3. Ideate
4. Prototype
5. Test

Application: A nonprofit can co-create solutions by involving the community it serves in every stage of the design.

5. The “Yes, And” Mindset

Borrowed from improv, “Yes, And” builds on ideas rather than shutting them down.

Application: In team brainstorming, replace “Yes, but…” with “Yes, and…” to expand creativity and inclusion.

Creating a Culture of Curiosity

Curiosity flourishes where it is safe to wonder, safe to question, and even safe to fail. Leaders, educators, and changemakers can cultivate this by:

• Admitting when they do not know.
• Rewarding questions as much as answers.
• Creating space for reflection, not just execution.
• Practicing empathy and seeking first to understand.

The Invitation

As Miriam’s post reminded me, the divides in our communities, workplaces, and world will not be bridged by doubling down on certainty. They will be bridged when we step into dialogue with curiosity.

Certainty builds walls. Curiosity builds bridges. And on those bridges, transformation, innovation, and hope are born.

So the next time you face a difficult question, pause. Instead of rushing to certainty, lean into curiosity. That is where change begins.

Wrap Up

So, I will end where I began .... with Miriam's question:

Where in your life, community, nonprofit, or profession can you replace certainty with curiosity this week?

Happy Thursday all,

-srt

P.S. How can I help?  In my coaching and consulting work, I help leaders and teams move from certainty to curiosity. Together, we create cultures where asking better questions unlocks innovation, deepens trust, and builds stronger connections.

If you or your team are ready to embrace curiosity as a catalyst for growth, I would love to partner with you. Let’s explore how we can shift conversations, bridge divides, and spark new possibilities.