Navigating to a New Perspective with the Curiosity Compass

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

An undeniable truth of life is that we are all stuck within our own perspective - we see the world through the lens of our past experiences, values and aspirations. We often aren’t even aware of the assumptions and biases we bring to a creative challenge. And, if we are open to exploring a challenge with fresh eyes, it’s hard to know where to begin!

Consider this Compass a tool for navigating to a new way of seeing your challenge. Your destination might be a new way to frame the problem, a fresh articulation of needs, an opportunity borrowed from another field, an understanding of the larger context or a glimpse into unintended consequences.

A quick note - take a little time before you begin to surface your assumptions about the creative challenge at hand. Who are you serving? What are their needs? Why is the project important to you and for your organization? What might the solution be?

Getting this all out of your head (and your team members’ heads) will allow you to start questioning those assumptions and seeing alternate points of view.

Here are a few tips for using this Compass – either solo or with your team. 

1. Get Oriented

Work your way around the Compass (starting anywhere) and ask how this lens could apply to your specific challenge. Spend no more than 5 minutes per lens. For example, ZOOM OUT for a student wellbeing challenge might mean thinking about the larger healthcare ecosystem or the education ecosystem or how they come together.

2. Question-storm

With the 8 lenses acting as thought-starters, brainstorm all the questions you have about your challenge. In our example above, if you were looking at the ZOOM OUT lens, you might ask, ‘Does elementary school play a role in student wellness?’ ‘Is the school board a key stakeholder?’ Work on post-its and place them around the compass.

3. Start Anywhere and Get Specific

It can feel overwhelming to explore your challenge from so many different perspectives. The good news is that there’s no prescribed way to use the Compass and you don’t have to be comprehensive. Start with the lens you’re most curious to explore - perhaps the lens that generated the most post-its during the Question-storm. Once you have your lens, start brainstorming the research activities you could do to deepen your understanding. You might brainstorm specific people to interview or choose activities like developing a detailed stakeholder map. 

4. Explore the Extremes

The Compass is arranged with the 2 ends of the spectrum across from each other. If you start with ZOOM OUT, try ZOOM IN next and see what that reveals. Are there any themes emerging across those 2 lenses?

5. Introduce Randomness

It’s tempting to focus on the most relevant lenses and explore strategically. Yes, that’s important, but make sure you leave time to explore unexpected areas. Be open to serendipity. The Wild Card methods add playfulness (which facilitates creativity) and may unlock a new way of seeing.

We’d love to hear your feedback on the Compass. What worked for you? What could be better? Was anything missing? Send us a note here.