1.
The New ABC
Why Learning to Always Be Curious is my Life’s work

2.
The journey map for this story
 Why “The New ABC” - what problem(s) do I see?
 Why does it matter – what are the consequences?
 Why do I care, and now we’re at it, Who am I?
 How can these problems be addressed?
 What can you expect from me?
 Who are you?
 … and how can you contact me?

3.
Why – The starting point
 We are all born curious, with age 5 as the Summit of Asking Questions
 After 12-20 years of education we’re trained in giving answers and have been
actively deskilled in the Art of Asking Questions
 Then we start careers and are expected to be creative and innovative
 … which is to say, “professionally curious”
 So we need to be reskilled to relearn something we knew already
 That’s a senseless waste of time and effort

4.
Why – Does this matter?
 Yes, it does
 And increasingly so
 21st century skills, i.e., creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, etc … to complement
the traditional focus on knowlledge (re)production
 Most recent research (HBR, 09/18): Curiosity boosts not only innovative
behaviour but also collaboration, quality of decisions and …. Overall
Performance
 But most organisations are scared or do not Walk the Talk

5.
Why – What’s it to me?
 Having worked in many different organisational environments…
 All focused on changing the world for the better…
 … it has become clear to me that Curiosity is a big gap, everywhere
 The world is obsessed with taking action & being in control
 Which leaves too little time to reflect about Why (not) and What else
 Result 1: perfectly nice answers to bad or irrelevant questions
 Result 2: actions being taken that are wildly underinformed and underexplored
 That bugs me. A lot.

6.
So who am I?
 Wouter Kersten
 Chief Curiosity of The New ABC
 At your service
 20 years of experience in a wide
diversity of environments
 With strong academic background
 Including a part-time, fast-track PhD

7.
How – So what is the alternative?
 Convey my vision that (professional) curiosity is at the core of all progress
 I repeat ALL progress, in human history
 It’s not just a cuddly topic
 It’s serious. And if you ignore that, you have a serious problem
 So I want to encourage you to put curiosity (back) in your DNA
 Encourage an attitude of 1. Wondering, 2. Enquiring, 3. Meaning
 In that order

8.
I’m not alone, and I’m not the first
“Logic can take you from A to B,
Imagination can take you anywhere”
(Einstein, A.)

9.
How – More details?
 Join the journey that lets you experience how
 … being more Curious can help you deal with…
 … exploring new avenues instead of ploughing on
 … start to embrace complexity (i.e., life), and uncertainty
 … so you can work with these phenomena
 But you need to have/ get/ give the room and time for this

10.
What – Can I offer you something?
How to Always Be Curious
1. Get Inspired
 Sparring: develop better questions to arrive at better amswers
2. Get started
 Create new directions rising up from ‘Noise’
 Introduction Training in how to become more curious
3. Get better
 How to Cherish complexity – in a box
 Advanced training in applying curiosity
Special
 Curiosity in Education – it starts with the teachers and decision makers

11.
“Thinking outside the box”
is NOT the summit of creative thinking.
It only shows you’re still thinking in terms of boxes…

12.
For whom – Who are you?
1. Any organisation, department or team, that
 feels stuck, overwhelmed, confused,
 Is done with tools that promise simple solutions
 senses that curiosity is important, but don’t know how to start
2. Or a school (board) that
 wants to allow more space for curiosity to flourish in its students (and teachers)
 but is doubting how it can do so “within the system”
 Therefore you are willing to try out new things and by now have gotten curious

13.
How to reach me and learn more
 www.thenewabc.nl
 Wouter.thenewabc@gmail.com
 +31 6 24635593
 The Hague, The Netherlands
 Blog
 LinkedIn