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Curiosity Conversation
Agenda-free conversations with curious people around the world
Starting in 2017, I began having open-ended, agenda-free conversations with curious people around the world. I called them "curiosity conversations," inspired by Brian Grazer's book A Curious Mind.
A lot of these curiosity conversations led to my first book, The Pathless Path. I had a lot of them during the pandemic, when people were forced to work remotely and were starting to question their relationship with work. In 2020 and 2021, I was in this dance of conversations and my own explorations, reflections and contemplations on work and writing. I'd write something each week, have people react to it, talk to people each week, and my thoughts would evolve. This was an exciting period for me.
By the numbers
curiosity conversations since 2017, 14 of them in groups
different people, 34 of them more than once
of talking, mostly 30 or 45 minutes at a time
- The busiest month was February 2021, with 23 conversations.
- More happened on a Wednesday than on any other day of the week.
People called in from at least 28 countries and territories
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How to Have a Curious Conversation
Having a curious conversation is simple, but here are a few reflections from my conversations over the years.
Make it agenda-free. Position it as an agenda-free conversation. Neither person is trying to get something from the other. As a writer and public figure, though, I knew people were often reaching out because they were interested in specific topics, like my writing about work.
Start light. If you're the one hosting, start with basic questions. What are you up to today? Where are you calling from?
Lead, especially at first. As the host, there's always an asymmetry. You're the one hosting, and you probably have a lot of information about yourself online. So lead the conversation, especially at the start.
Plan for 45 minutes. I used to schedule these for 45 minutes, which is usually a good amount of time. If it goes over to an hour, that's fine. If it's shorter, that's fine too.
Don't be afraid to end early. Sometimes people are expecting something, or they aren't comfortable having an open conversation. For me this was a small percentage of conversations, but when it happened I'd say something like, "Okay, it seems like we've hit a wall here. Might make sense to end. What do you think?" And then, "Awesome, it was great meeting you."
Some starter questions:
- What's alive for you right now?
- What's energizing you?
- What are you thinking about?
- What books are you reading?
- Anything inspiring you've read, watched, or listened to lately?
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