Why Curiosity is a TealHaus core value.
As a newer company, this year was the first time we had a real process for performance reviews. Reviews tend to make people nervous but without them, studies have shown that team members actually feel even more uneasy because they never get any feedback.
Knowing nothing is far worse than having a few things you could work on to become a better version of yourself. (And who doesn’t want to be better at what they do?) Of course, the crucial key to feedback is ensuring it is frequent (aka don’t save everything for one meeting a year) and effective/relevant. But that’s not the point of this blog–although I can quickly get on my professional development soapbox.
The point of this post is something Mollie said during her review–while quoting Jessie. I had never heard it before but apparently it is a model Jessie lives by:
“Don’t be frugal with the Google.”
It means that if Jessie is trying to create something and can’t figure it out, she is quick to research it before saying it cannot be done. It is a model of learning and exploration Mollie was calling out as an example she wants to follow.
Thanks to the innovations of technology, we have the answers to literally everything at our fingertips. Now, the answers may not always be accurate (reminder to everyone to check your sources), but there is something out there that can help you figure out the problem you are trying to solve. Even if it might be an obscure Reddit thread from 2017.
Learning is an active skill. We learn by experimenting, carefully observing others, and of course, by using resources available to us to ask questions. Nothing irritates me more than a question that a quick google search could answer in seconds. (And now, AI is getting us even farther in this realm).
That is why Curiosity with a capital “C” is a core value at TealHaus. Being curious is what drives us to ask questions—and do the work to discover the answers ourselves. Being curious means we test theories out and see what happens when we approach them a different way. It means we are constantly wondering, pondering, and asking “why?”
Being curious sometimes means wading your toes into a little risk. It means being willing to fail in the quest for exploration. And it means learning how to ask the right questions.
My four-and-a-half-year-old son is really into Curious George these days. I try to shuffle the books into the bottom of his pre-bed pile because they are a little long for bedtime.
Alas, I have read many in the past several months but have taken to heart the core themes. For George, curiosity is a compulsion he cannot control—and often gets him into trouble. There is a quote I love that captures that need to explore and test boundaries:
“‘Now run along and play, but don’t get into trouble.’
George promised to be good. But it is easy for little monkeys to forget.”
I hope we all forget more often and embrace being curious little monkeys. Because when we are curious, we find adventure, and adventure always leads to new discoveries.
