Babies are remarkable. While it might seem like all they do is eat, sleep, cry, and poop—especially to a sleep-deprived parent living this cycle 24/7—there's much more going on beneath the surface. If you watch an infant closely, you’ll notice how they actively take in the world around them. Over time, their eyes come into sharper focus, evolving from a gaze fixed on their caregiver to noticing smaller details, like the movement of a pet's tail. Sounds capture their attention, and objects are thoroughly explored by touching and, of course, tasting. Infants learn by engaging with everything around them. In fact, they’re so eager to explore that caregivers often need to step in to protect them from danger. This sensory exploration is a pure, unfiltered expression of curiosity—perhaps even the essence of it.

From birth, children seem wired to be curious. As they grow, they begin to connect, integrate, and synthesize new information to better understand their world, which can be thought of as a system made up of people, relationships, objects, patterns, and natural laws. Even before they develop enough language to ask questions, children are constantly constructing meaning. They instinctively understand the importance of staying curious as they navigate and make sense of their environment.

In their book Systems Inspired Leadership, Frank Uit de Weerd and Marita Fridjhon identify curiosity as one of eight essential meta-skills. They define curiosity as a willingness to explore and learn, leading to new awareness. This definition aligns closely with what we observe in young children—through their natural inquiries, they are continuously learning how their system works.

What happens to our curiosity?

As we age, what becomes of this natural curiosity? Ideally, it would grow and evolve alongside our intellectual, social, and emotional capacities. However, many factors work to diminish it.

One such factor is busyness. In a world filled with responsibilities and endless to-do lists, we can become so focused on productivity that moments of wonder—like noticing the dew on a leaf, listening to children’s laughter, or savoring a smell wafting from the kitchen—feel childish or impractical. Curiosity is relegated to an indulgent luxury rather than embraced as a meta-skill.

Another factor that stifles curiosity is the emphasis on "right-answer thinking." Traditional education often rewards correct answers, especially in the form of multiple-choice tests that leave little room for exploring what might be right about an incorrect answer. This approach encourages memorization over inquiry. As Daniel Kim puts it, “Having to know the answers puts one in a terrible position from which to learn.” While acquiring knowledge is valuable, genuine learning happens when we connect new information with what we already know. Curiosity bridges this gap, helping us make meaningful connections between past experiences and new insights.

In a mechanical system, a skilled technician can quickly diagnose a broken part or a misaligned connection. However, this technical expertise is born from genuine curiosity. Temple Grandin suggests in her book Visual Thinking that if we continue to prioritize right answer thinking and force people to accept predetermined answers, we will extinct the next generation of technicians and innovators because we are stifling much-needed curiosity.  Since human systems are even more complex, it stands to reason that learning to be curious about relationships will improve our ability to solve all kinds of problems.

Exercising Curiosity Using the Habits of a Systems Thinker

If curiosity is a skill, what if we intentionally worked to strengthen it, like a muscle that grows with exercise? Can practice help us to build curiosity? The Habits of Systems Thinker are practices that can help build the meta-skill of curiosity and  counteract the cultural trends that weaken our curiosity muscle.  

At the Waters Center, we are often asked, "Why focus on habits?" Habits reinforce the idea that systems thinking is something you do, not just a theory to understand. People have agency over the habits they develop. If we want to build our "curiosity muscle," we can consciously apply these thinking habits as a way to practice curiosity.

The Habits of a Systems Thinker help us see the importance of relationships within complex systems. Surfacing and testing our assumptions and mental models promotes curiosity by encouraging people to question their own beliefs and consider the ideas of other people. A curious mind naturally probes how different beliefs shape an understanding of the world. Testing assumptions pushes us to ask what information we might be missing that is important to fully understanding the system. It requires courage to test our mental models because sometimes when we do so we learn that we are wrong. A CEO in Systems Inspired Leadership says, “No one gets to be wrong, but everyone gets to be curious.”  Curiosity is a great anecdote for right-or-wrong thinking.

When we approach a situation with genuine curiosity, we naturally seek multiple perspectives. This not only enhances our ability to see the big picture but also fosters a deeper understanding of complex systems. Even when we think we’ve grasped the big picture or arrived at the “right” conclusion, curiosity invites us to explore further, to take a more nuanced approach. Systems thinking encourages us to slow down, examine issues thoroughly, and reflect on our own mental models, allowing us to see not just the obvious parts of a system but the intricate relationships holding it together—to genuinely see the big picture. The big picture requires a person to look beyond immediate details and ask broader questions about how various components fit together. Curiosity drives the exploration of connections and patterns within a system.

Change is a constant in systems and that change can fuel an innate tendency towards curiosity. People naturally want to investigate why and how things change, leading them to observe trends and dynamics over time. Curiosity drives the desire to see beyond isolated incidents and understand recurring themes.

Thinking in Loops, Not in Lines

A curious thinker enjoys exploring circular cause-and-effect relationships rather than linear ones. These circular relationships can be quite apparent in natural systems. For example, the more flowers the more pollinators, the more pollinators the more flowers, or even a houseplant’s response to a needed drink of water. And yet, circular relationships occur with just as much frequency in more unseen systems. When a person is frequently late to meetings, it can fuel a belief in others that the person is disinterested or irresponsible. However, further exploration might reveal a circumstance that explains their tardiness and creates an opportunity to offer support.

Seeing the circular nature of cause-and-effect and making meaningful connections promote curiosity about how interconnected parts influence one another. Identifying leverage points in a system involves a curiosity about cause-and-effect, understanding which small changes can lead to significant impact and connecting that to what is changing over time.  

Systems thinking encourages curiosity about feedback—how actions lead to reactions within a system. The Habits promote inquisitiveness about the ripple effects of decisions and behaviors. They cause us to ask questions like: What is happening? What are the patterns? What are the consequences or actions? What beliefs are impacting the systems in a context of change over time?

Curiosity in Life and in Work

We’ve established that a natural propensity for curiosity is fairly obvious in children, but what does it look like in adults? At work, it might manifest in a team of colleagues where ideas and challenges flow freely, with members who genuinely believe they are better together. Applying the Habits of a Systems Thinker, the team develops a common language that allows them to surface assumptions, consider consequences, and ask questions about how others view the situation from their unique vantage points. At home, it could sound like a parent of a teenager digging deeper to better understand their child's perspective, using language that avoids accusation and instead fosters deeper, more meaningful conversations. On a personal level, curiosity might feel like contentment—recognizing that one is not responsible for having all the answers, but for being curious, taking time to truly listen, and observing with all the senses what’s happening in one’s environment.

Curiosity isn’t a luxury—it’s a critical skill for understanding and improving the world around us.  Applying the Habits of a Systems Thinker is a practical way to build our curiosity muscle at the same time we are improving our ability to see complex systems more clearly.  Practicing the Habits of a Systems Thinker fosters a culture of curiosity. It enhances our ability to navigate complex systems, opening the door to continuous learning and discovery.

What if our practice of curiosity included recognizing genuine curiosity in others, acknowledging their efforts, and encouraging them by joining in their pursuit of deeper understanding? This could mean taking time to think, fully considering an issue, and being open to changing our minds. What if, every day, we set aside the notion that curiosity is a luxury and instead engaged in it with urgency? What if we embraced curiosity with the same fervor and diligence that we devote to daily exercise and good nutrition? We would be learners, who just might feel remarkable.

References

Grandin, T. (2022). Visual thinking: The hidden gifts of people who think in pictures, patterns, and abstractions. Riverhead Books.

Kim, D. H. (1999). Introduction to systems thinking. Pegasus Communications.

Uit de Weerd, F., & Fridjhon, M. (2021). Systems inspired leadership: How to tap into the wisdom of the collective. CRR Global.