Curiosity is not a luxury
September 20th, 2009
The role of curiosity in making 21st century associations thrive is a subject that deserves more of our attention than it currently receives. We’re not putting too much emphasis on it right now because our plates are full. Recessions have a nasty way of upending our priorities, and many associations have no choice but to focus on other things. But even as we get back to basics, we would be wise to remember that curiosity is not a luxury.
Jim Leach, a former Member of Congress and the new chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, reminds of this essential fact in a short speech delivered earlier this month at the University of Virginia. In his remarks, Leach reflects on whether there is an “inalienable right” to curiosity. He argues:
Many might find the importance I give the concept of curiosity itself a curious thought. But curiosity is imaginative thinking. And imagination fortified by knowledge is a powerful force. It is exactly what oppressive states fear. That is why oppressors are invariably censors. They attempt to close the ears of their people and cloak them with orthodoxy of one kind or another. But the human soul is by nature curious and responds to imaginative thought. It is no accident that it was a playwright in Czechoslovakia, a humanist labor leader in Poland, and a Pope in Rome who established that the human spirit is more powerful than a tank commander reporting to an ideologue in the Kremlin. Ideas matter. And when ideas are amplified by recognition that alternative models of governance exist, whether they be in far-away or adjacent places, people-centric approaches become more easily imagined and demanded.
Without trying to diminish the deeper meaning and broader implications of Leach’s powerful words, we should acknowledge that in the midst of our current crisis, associations must confront their own “oppressors.” The tyranny of past orthodoxies–who we’ve always been, what we’ve always known, what we’ve always done–too often closes present-day minds to the possibilities of a still unfolding and uncertain future. As we continue to move toward a reset economy based on rethought assumptions, however, our capacity to nurture and support human curiosity and imagination will be integral to any success our associations may achieve.
Far from being a luxury, Leach concludes that “…the future is now the province of the curious.” When it comes to the future of the association community and its stakeholders everywhere, I certainly hope he is right.
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Entry Filed under: Principled Innovation Blog, What's New?, Social Media, Innovation, Associations, Extreme Makeover, The Association Innovator, We Have Always Done It That Way, Garage Memes, Governing for Innovation, Embrace the Revolution
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