“Constantly, truly ask yourself: is my position correct? Am I thinking this through? Am I deciding what I want my solution to be and then working backwards from there?” ~ Matt Rogers

Matt Rogers is a political strategist by profession and nature. I wondered what insights he might have about how curiosity shows up in politics. “My success,” he says, “has been because I’m willing to say ‘I don’t know’. And then I surround myself with people who do know.”

More than anything else, this ended up being a conversation about the risks of incuriosity. Matt sees the dangers for his beloved Philadelphia Eagles, in his experience as a political candidate, and in personal relationships.

Pick your arena: how can you push back against incuriosity in your work and life?

Too often we get wedded to these ideas of when things were perfect, that we can go back to a specific recipe, just cook it up and get the exact same thing. Curiosity forces us to reimagine and push forward. Maybe it was good, and it can be good again, [but] it’s not going to be the exact same recipe to get there.

Listen to Choose to be Curious #219: Curiosity in Work, Life, Politics…& Sports, with Matt Rogers

Matt Rogers is chief of staff to Phyllis Randall, the chair of the Board of Supervisors for Loudon County, Virginia’s fastest growing county. He indulges his passion for sports on his podcast, Honorable Mention. 

Matt Rogers is a busy guy. Find him on LinkedIn @mcrogers and check out his podcast, Honorable Mention: A (Philly) Sports Podcast: https://www.linkedin.com/company/honorable-mention-podcast/

Check out Dan Kahan’s research and how “politics make us stupid”.

Theme music by Sean Balick; “Town Market” by Onesuch Village via Blue Dot Sessions.

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