Notes on A Curious Mind by Brian Glazer

A close friend recently told me to read A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life by Hollywood producer Brian Glazer. It was a quick, light read, and I enjoyed its collection of stories and observations about curiosity.

Brian is right that little is taught or researched about this important power we all have. It was neat to see how one person's life was pretty much defined by this behavior and how he used "curiosity conversations" throughout his life to learn about others and seek inspiration from outside his field. It reminded me a lot of Tim Ferriss's podcast interviews and the Half Half Man Book Club.

Below were some of my notes on the book and biggest takeaways. I liked how honest and straightforward the writing was, and it was neat to take a deep dive into the mind behind movies like Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind.

Intro
Curiosity helped him become movie producer and tell stories
Sit down and have curiosity conversations with people in different fields

1 no cure for curiosity
Not embarrassed to ask questions
People like to talk, especially about themselves, and all you need is a simple pretext to talk to them
Curiosity as way of uncovering ideas
Did cold calls asking for 5 minutes with high level people; wrote intro, not looking for job, have specific question 
Had to meet new person daily
Curiosity conversations 
At least one every 2 weeks
Spend time with people outside your industry
Ask questions to find stories

2: thinking like other people
Ideas as currency
Respect questions 

3: curiosity insight 

4: curiosity as superpower
Make the hardest call of the day first

5: every conversation is a curiosity conversation 
Ask questions instead of giving instructions

6: good taste and anticuriosity
When settled mind on project u want, stop getting more criticism and feedback when someone says no
Need to develop some invulnerability

7 golden age of curiosity

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