Purposeful Curiosity: The Power of Asking the Right Questions at the Right Time

by Constantine Andriopoulos

Professor of Entrepreneurship at Bayes Business School provides his masterclass on how accomplished individuals use their curiosity to reach challenging goals and provides nine common practices to push boundaries and make new discoveries.

We have a love affair with people who plunge into new experiences and push limits. We admire those who imagine the unimaginable, solve enduring mysteries, who turn the impossible into possible, and help us evolve. In Purposeful Curiosity, Dr. Constantine Andriopoulos lifts the veil on how accomplished individuals channel their curiosity to a particular purpose—toward advancing science and human understanding, discovering new lands and opportunities or reaching a significant goal. Purposeful curiosity gets you off the couch and propels you to solve complex puzzles, and teaches you how to immerse yourself in the unknown with clarity, passion, courage, and positivity.

Dr. Andriopoulos interviews Formula One engineers, scientists working to grow food on Mars, opera singers, visual special effects artists, storm chasers, venture capitalists, Michelin-starred chefs, and many others to learn how they used their curiosity to achieve challenging goals. Although not everyone aspires to explore Antarctica or found a factchecking website, we all search for meaning and progress. Whether we're trying to be better or the best in what we do, prepare for a new job or leave our current career for something more fulfilling, see through the “noise” of fake outrage and information overload, commercialize an innovation, improve health, or teach children the value of solving a puzzle, all of us can benefit from thinking like a purposefully curious person.

Purposeful Curiosity offers nine essential lessons that allow us to make use of our curiosity, to empower and help you replicate the experiences of others in order to reach your goals and thrive.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help

273 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 25, 2022

Reviews

[Laura ‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book could’ve been a bit shorter for sure. Lost me here and there throughout the book. Otherwise interesting insights, great selection of interviews, inspirational and thought-provoking. Will definitely open my notes and annotations when researching anything in the future.

[Rachel Kaloh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay this time I’m gonna put my review slightly differently. Hope it gives you some “curiosity itch” to wanna know more 😉

💭 The feeling when reading this book
I imagine myself as a 5 year old kid whose life purpose is only to find out why things are the way they were and how could things be that way. And nothing can ever stop me from my journey to find out. The pursuit of knowledge should be as fun and exciting as how it feels for a kid when picking up shells by the sea: always wants to keep collecting!

📚 Insights from the book
“Embracing purposeful curiosity allows us to discover whole new worlds. Without risks and the discomfort of newness, there can be no creative or intellectual breakthroughs.”
(This is just one of many other thought provoking statements)

✨ What’s so special about the book
Not only it helps you feed your curiosity, it also provides you steps on how to overcome set-backs, know when’s the time to pivot and what to do once you cross the finish line. It gives you spirit to stay curious even encourage you to leap into some more curiosity journeys.

🗣️ Who should be reading this
Everyone for sure! From students to advanced students, fresh grads, parents, worker, business owner, this book relate to any kind of purposeful situation you’re in right now.

[Michael David · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the first book that caught my eye in the latest rendition of the Big Bad Wolf sale here in Davao. The blurb at the back wasn't really enticing, but I liked the cover and there were only a few copies left.

As someone who tries to rein himself back from impulsivity, I explored the choices in the sale. When I realized that after 30 minutes of maundering that I still wanted to read the book, I took the only pristine copy available, and bought it.

Purposeful Curiosity wasn't a horrible read. It just wasn't impressive. Rather than comment novel ideas regarding curiosity, the book featured tons of vignettes from creators and achievers. For instance, Andriopoulos wrote that to inspire the curiosity itch, one should push boundaries, have a sense of purpose, and believe. But this is precisely what most self-help books espouse!

I did appreciate the dichotomy of frivolous vs. purposeful curiosity that the author proposed, but there's a dearth of novelty in this work: what he wrote is largely commonsensical, rational advice that he simply expounded upon with copious examples: after identifying the things one loves, one should assess whether a deep dig into that thing is tenable. If it is, one should learn as much as he can about it, expect snags and occasional setbacks, and push forward with sangfroid. Moderation, however, is key.

That's the book in a nutshell. One could glean the same concepts with Dale Carnegie's works. I do commend Andriopoulos for concocting such an inviting title and a wonderful cover for the book.

[Flo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book to read if you're in a learning rut. It's about learning how to be curious about everything and anything. And if you're the type who has always been curious, it reinforces the reason why it's so great to continue to be curious in life. Whether you are a busy person or not, you can always learn something. You can learn something that only takes 5 minutes (like a word in Spanish) or take 5 years (like the entire Spanish language). Learning about new things such as a new hobby, can and will make you a better person. A more rounded person. When you have a thirst for learning, you will never be bored. You will never be boring. You will always have something to talk about with others. It'll make you a more interesting person. Your world will be that much bigger when you're not afraid to try something new. A language, a craft, a country, a sport, an exercise, a religion, etc... So, why did I give this only 3 stars? I didn't like the layout. Having said that, the author has these little asides, called TRY THIS. These are little exercises to further enhance your learning journey. I think if you only focused on those (and there are many), you are in good shape to learn something from this book.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Constantine Andriopoulos's "Purposeful Curiosity" seeks to inspire curiosity for those in all fields. Andriopoulos is a professor of entrepreneurship and so his primary angle pertains to business. He interviews a wide field including engineers, singers, artists, venture capitalists, and chefs. Andriopoulos encourages the reader to build habits that develop curiosity, form teams that multiply curiosity, and go both deep and wide with their pursuits.

In the end, there are some helpful nuggets, but it felt a bit more scattershot than I hoped for. I would recommend Todd Henry's "Herding Tigers" instead.

For more reviews see thebeehive.live.

[Christina Garidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and how it took away the need for everything to be about our career / success and placed PURPOSE at the heart of it instead. This book teaches the world to follow their CURIOSITY without strings attached (calling it innovation or something else that evokes high expectations)! This is so important in today's distracted and highly productive world! Curiosity is underrated and not encouraged enough in corporates. Let alone learning the ART of asking the RIGHT questions and the RIGHT time! We need to change that and your book is the cornerstone to practicing curiosity within the business context effectively and with a playful heart! A must read in my opinion!

[Salma Aisyah · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I highlight the most in the book is that curiosity is not the one's to master alone. It needs social action and initiative. To cultivate curiosity means to keep maintaining the good network with the right people and turn it into the realisation of ideas. To be curious is to care about something. So observe it deeply, itch our curiosity on it, ask people, think many possibilities, falisify it, and broaden our zone or boundaries.

[Paul]

Curious George was my favorite series growing up, so this caught my attention. There's some good ideas and info here, Though likely to be read mostly by those in business, anyone can benefit from this one. Recommended.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

[Diamantoula · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a terrific book, full of practical, actionable insights on how to mobilise and channel our curiosity towards a purpose. I found the stories shared useful and inspirational. Easy to read and thought-provoking.

[Lydia A · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a refreshing read! It was great to explore all these ideas of curiosities from such a range of diverse perspectives - a MUST for anyone exploring their growth mindset.

[Daniel Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great long bank holiday read - this book pushes the boundaries on what we know in curiosity!