My Favorite Attribute

 Recently, a young adult asked me what quality I looked for the most in a potential business partner or employee. I did have to think about it for even a moment. My answer is what it has always been—Curiosity.

Webster’s defines Curiosity as a desire to know or learn. Since the 1970’s, psychologists have found that being curious is closely related to inquisitive thinking, exploration, and investigation. They also have found that the curious have more perseverance and grit than the average person. On the job, they tend to have deeper engagement, superior performance, and personally, have more meaningful goals than their fellow workers.

This trait of curiosity often generates positive experiences, and, in some cases, what psychologists call “joyous exploration.” The curious among us enjoy confronting novelty and may well take risks that can be financial, social, or even physical.

As a child, I discovered that I had two interests that have stayed with me—history and markets. My parents took the family to Boston when I was five and we covered The Freedom Trail in detail. Soon, I knew not only of the midnight ride of Paul Revere but also all about his two lesser-known fellow riders, Billy Dawes and Samuel Prescott. At seven, my father bought me a subscription to American Heritage. He inscribed each issue with a personal encouraging note. I could not read them well at first but over the next few years, my fascination grew.

At eight, my mother, the daughter of a stockbroker, sat me down and taught me how to read the market tables after I asked her what the numbers meant next to each company. I am certain I was the only 3rd grader in Wickford, Rhode Island who knew what a P/E ratio was. 

All of this stuck with me. In college, my degree was on paper in economics, but it really was in Economic History. My courses included History of Money and Banking, History of Economic Thought, Economic History, and an Independent Study which covered ideas of the great economists from Adam Smith to Milton Friedman. I still devote time almost daily with economic theory.

In my career in advertising/marketing and later as a university lecturer, I was always excited to work with or meet someone who had endless curiosity about the business or subject at hand.

Millions of people spend their lives going through the motions or doing enough to get by or simply survive. If you are curious about a topic, pursue it and you will likely be happy and successful at it. People are surprised when I tell them that I really was not crazy about advertising. What I was enamored with was the media markets and how they fluctuated and presented new opportunities or great bargains in down markets.

Also, please do not confuse curiosity with nosiness. When someone says to me “I am curious about….”, an alarm goes off in my head. They want to gossip or find out something about me or someone else.

Finally, virtually every year, Warren Buffett speaks to an MBA class or two. One piece of advice he gives is: “Do not go sleepwalking through life.” Well, sadly, most people do. The truly curious never do that.

If you would like to contact Don Cole directly, you may reach him at doncolemedia@gmail.com or leave a message on the blog.