Curious Mind

Chapter 16 Nurturing a Curious Mind

An event that runs smoothly may conceal substantial planning. Examining the preparations can reveal work that participants never notice.

The cognitive ability to simultaneously think in opposing directions is a trait a great leader can possess. Be it corporate tycoons, generals in the armed forces, or chess grandmasters. Each thinks many steps ahead about multiple variables, attaches a probability to the various potential outcomes, dissects the situation for its components and influencers, formulates action options, and creates both forward and contingency plans with confidence. I call it, having a “curious mind.”

Most successful event strategists have curious minds, although they may not realize it or identify that in themselves. They instinctively dissect program elements into small parts, analyze them, ask questions surrounding them, consider what could go wrong, determine how to reduce risks, figure out how to handle challenges and then put it all back together and act. They know from experience that small details, when neglected or overlooked, can become huge problems in no time.

Near the beginning of the semester in the strategic planning course that I teach, I told my students that any gathering could be considered an event and, therefore, would require thinking through the details. To put their skills to a test, I asked them to plan a pizza party for the following week’s class. They’d be graded on how well it unfolded. They all thought it was a guaranteed “A.” After 15 minutes of class time, all 18 students agreed that they’d thought it through thoroughly and were done planning.

By the following week, pizza and soda were ordered, and supplies were purchased according to the plans they’d made. The person who’d picked up the six pizzas and the soda couldn’t carry it all in one trip, so she delivered the first three pizzas and a couple of two-liter bottles of soda. Then she had to walk back to her car for the rest. (This campus is notorious for its scarce parking, so the trip to her car and back was a seven-minute errand.)

Once she returned and the boxes and bottles were opened, people began to serve themselves. They quickly realized they hadn’t ordered enough non-meat options. This caused some grumbling and some mitigating pepperoni removal. They had plates, but they didn’t have cups! And what about paper towels and spray cleaner to get the dripped pizza grease off the desks? They’d forgotten to buy those, too.

Fortunately, I had done this exercise before. Under my desk, I had a cooler with ice, cups, paper plates, paper towels, and cleaning supplies. When it came time to tally the expenses and divvy up the costs, they also realized they didn’t have enough singles to make change. I’d anticipated that also and brought a stack of one-dollar bills.

A simple pizza party proved to be full of elusive details and hidden costs. The students were surprised. They realized they could have anticipated and avoided these oversights with a bit more thought (and perhaps more pizza-party experience). They understood the lesson: There is more to a flawless event than meets the eye.

Event strategists draw on their experience and context awareness to determine what logistics to manage and how to make the event seem effortless. (That’s our gift!) Planning events has been compared to ducks swimming: It appears graceful and effortless...until you look below the surface.

That’s why I created the “Curious Mind Exercise.” The exercises ask planners to identify details and test whether a sequence of instructions is complete.

You also must remember that you’re not planning alone. It takes teamwork. And, frankly, the smarter the people around you are, the better you can do your job.

Here are examples of some of the exercises to help you pay attention to important details:

• Choose an object at random, something from your briefcase, your desk, or that’s visible from your window. For two minutes, write down as many questions you can think of about that item. Now that your mind is limbered up, do the same exercise, but this time apply a strategic planner perspective.

• Consider a task you do without thinking, brush your teeth, tie your shoes, eat an ice cream cone, and write down every step necessary to accomplish the task. Test yourself by doing the task just following your list and see what you missed.