What Your Discovery Quiz Means
This quiz is based on Karen Golden-Biddle’s research on how people engage in a creative process that enables them to unlock the power of discovery. The quiz helps you reflect on these responses, including how you support or block opportunities for discovery.
There are three profiles, based on typical responses to discovery opportunities.
Based on your quiz, your strongest response to discovery opportunities is to dismiss them. You may dismiss discovery with behaviors such as ignoring unsettling clues, explaining away contrary ideas, or censoring your own or others’ new ideas. Belief rigidity is the hallmark of dismissing discovery.
To unlock your power to tap discovery, it could be helpful to develop more behaviors associated with the adjusting to discovery response. To make this shift involves moving away from dismissing discovery opportunities and moving toward responding more flexibly when unexpected situations arise.
To begin, you might make a log of the times you dismiss others’ new ideas. A helpful log could include a brief description of the situation and details of your response to it. Do you notice any regularities in how you respond and when? Are there occasions where you dismiss discovery opportunities more regularly than others?
To learn more, read The Untapped Power of Discovery. To get a sense of how your results compare to others, click here to subscribe to Karen’s email list.
Based on your quiz, your strongest response to discovery opportunities is to adjust to them, but only when necessary. You may do this by not using the derailing behaviors noted above, a notable skill. Caution is the hallmark of adjusting to discovery.
To unlock your power to tap discovery, it could be helpful to develop more behaviors associated with the embracing discovery response. To make this shift involves moving away from trying to control or manage the unexpected situation and moving toward responding with curiosity.
To begin, you might craft 3-4 questions designed to explore unexpected situations with curiosity. For example, what makes this situation surprising to me? How might it challenge beliefs or expectations I hold? During the next unexpected situation, ask each question, jotting notes. Review your notes and experience to gain insight into how you felt and behaved in moving away from cautionary to more curious responses.
To learn more, read The Untapped Power of Discovery. To get a sense of how your results compare to others, click here to subscribe to Karen’s email list.
Embracing discovery elevates initiatives that could reconsider prevailing beliefs and practices in the organization – cultural change, life change, or work issues such as “where to work.” As a result, this style can be effective in leveraging the unexpected to ignite discovery as well as supporting and modelling the discovery process throughout an initiative to create something new.
Based on your quiz, your strongest response to discovery opportunities is to embrace them.
You may do this by using specific discovery enabling responses, such as seeking clues to the unexpected situation that help you know more about it and decipher its impact. Or asking questions from a discovery mindset. Belief flexibility is the hallmark of embracing discovery.
To enrich your discovery practice, you could try out a small experiment designed to share experiences and learning about discovery with others. For example, you could bring together colleagues whom you have experienced as having a similar discovery mindset to share tips, experiences, wisdom about facilitating discovery, and questions about what you don’t know. This could become a community to help cultivate their discovery practice.
To learn more, read The Untapped Power of Discovery. To get a sense of how your results compare to others, click here to subscribe to Karen’s email list.