Curiosity Mindset

Next up is a brief dive into a Curiosity Mindset. Einstein famously said, “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” You could argue that curiosity is responsible for all major scientific and technological advances because it’s rooted in the desire to seek the truth and explore the unknown. Having a Curiosity Mindset means always asking insightful questions and not taking things at face value. 

Peter recently spoke with the brilliant writer Tim Urban, creator of the Wait But Why blog and one of the most curious people he’s met. For Tim, a Curiosity Mindset is being actively interested in adding to the knowledge tower in your mind and being energized by the dopamine hits you get by going from confusion to clarity. 

“When you begin with a curious mindset,” Urban said, “you’re both more interested in what you’re learning, and you retain more of what you’ve learned.” Because Google gives us all of us the power to know almost anything we’re curious about, what matters more today than raw knowledge is the quality of the questions you ask. 

Peter has often commented that whenever he drops off his 11-year-old twin boys at school, his parting comment to them is, “Ask great questions today.” Funny enough, it’s the same advice he gives entrepreneurs and executives. Further, as Peter’s friend Tony Robbins says, “The quality of your questions determines the quality of your life.” And, if you fashion yourself as an entrepreneur, being curious is especially important for you. As Peter and Salim have studied the most successful entrepreneurs and companies, from Amazon to Google and Uber to SpaceX, their success in the early days was due in large part to their relentless use of Experimentation to define their product-market fit.