2 min read

Curiosity Within Constraints

Curiosity Within Constraints
Photo by Marten Newhall / Unsplash

This past week was full of curiosity for me. At the end of this post, I've shared some of the highlights of the content that I have been consuming and what it sparked in my mind.  But at the outset of today's post, I wanted to ask you: What are you most curious about right now?

It is a question that I have been using each morning to check in on where my mind is at as the day starts. I am a big believer in the work our subconscious minds do while we sleep and am grateful to have my morning journaling practice to help me capture some of the fleeting thoughts that are top of mind as I hear my alarm go off. I know that if I don't get those ideas down on the page, I will lose them to the next notification that goes off on my phone or post-it notes that are scattered across my desk when I grab a cup of coffee.

This week, my curiosity has been focused a lot on you, this group, and this experiment. I am not sure how it will play out, but I know that those of you already here are going to help me think through it and hopefully help me shape it so each week, you're looking forward to seeing this post arrive in your inbox or show up in your blogroll.

I am curious about how to make this more than just "that thing Andy is trying" and into something that brings about collective knowledge and shared learnings.

Wedding day in France
Photo by Juliette F / Unsplash

Over the past few years, I've been hosting dinner parties in my garden. My cohosts and I know that curating the right people is step one. But then a very clear step two is putting some guardrails on the conversation and how the evening's interactions will go. The most successful "rule" we now use is that of the Jeffersonian Conversation. From the time that we sit down until the time we clear the dessert plates, there is only one conversation at a time. No side conversations or chatting with your neighbor, everything that is said so the whole table can hear it. This has allowed the flow of conversations to go much deeper much faster than the free-for-all that some dinner parties can turn into. It includes everyone and allows for more input than there would be otherwise.

What constraints are necessary for curiosity to flourish?

What happens to curiosity without constraints?

What is your most successful curiosity of the past and what constraints did it have or not have when it bloomed from a hunch to a pursuit?


If you are reading this post and not already a "Roomie" - we'd love to include you in our discussions this month. In the same way we tackle Curiosity, we are in the middle of our month-long discussion on Accountability as we speak. Only paid members, or "Roomies" as we've started to call ourselves, have access to the conversations in real-time and are invited to the virtual meet-ups and discussions. You can join just for this next month or you can sign up for the year. Just check out your options here