Next time you find yourself feeling uncomfortable with another person during a meeting or conversation, try applying a Curiosity Lens:
1. Take a breath. Observe what you’re feeling physically.
2. Take a moment to notice and then suspend the judgments and assumptions you hear in your mind.
3. Replace them with the intention to learn something new.
4. Ask a question that invites the other person to elaborate on their thoughts and feelings.
a. “Can you say more about that?”
b.“What aspects of this situation resonate most strongly for you?”
5. Listen actively: Pay full attention to what the person is saying without interrupting, immediately critiquing, or planning your own response.
6. Note how you have expanded your understanding. Entering a conversation with a curiosity lens will almost invariably transform it.
“Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t.” —Bill Nye
