Did curiosity actually kill the cat?

‘Curiosity killed the cat’ was a phrase I recall hearing many times when growing up. The phrase itself dates back to 1873 when it was published in James Allan Mair’s 1873 book, A Handbook of Proverbs.1 Its common meaning is that being overly inquisitive can get you into troublesome situations. Teachers and caregivers warned me against unnecessary investigation or experimentation. This saying, and similar conditioning, moulded me into a people pleaser. I strived to fit in to avoid being teased, and as I got older this showed up as towing the company line. Much of the conditioning we face as children has profound imprints on our personalities. The debate between nature vs. nurture has levelled to an understanding that both variables have significant impact on our development. But getting back to how curiosity killed the cat, what many people don’t know is that this is only half the saying. The second part is ‘and satisfaction brought it back,’ showing that the risk might be worth it. So how is all this related to burnout? Well, a commonly referenced definition of burnout from the World Health Organization(WHO) is: a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. Now before going further, I need to address the fact that pharmacist burnout is caused by both systemic and individual factors. We all know that the profession of pharmacy and pharmacies have their fair share of systemic factors. I am not discounting or ignoring these, but this article will focus on the individual factors that are in our immediate control. In the context of communication, being curious is an effective tool to prevent stress-stacking that can lead to burnout. Stress-stacking is when we react to a stressful situation in a depleting way, thereby creating more stress.Read: Let’s talk about the elephant in the roomYears ago, I attended the Blue Spirit Retreat Centre in Costa Rica where I met a bestselling author who was attending the sessions herself. We got talking and one of the many pearls she dropped was 'Be curious, not furious.’ I have used these four words countless times over my years as an owner-operator to help employees and managers deal with conflict within their teams. Being curious means making fewer assumptions. We achieve this by asking more questions and expressing a desire to understand a differing or opposing point of view. I can’t tell you the number of times a patient has come to the dispensary counter, and in an aggressive tone said 'I want to talk to someone about a mistake made on my last prescription!’ Reflecting back, very few of these incidences were actual dispensing errors. The majority of cases involved patients having come to a conclusion without asking for or having all the information to understand what was done and why. As a pharmacist, what would you do when faced with this patient? Most of us would approach this situation by asking questions to get more information. We may ask:‘Can you tell me about what happened?’‘I can see you are upset. Let's take a deeper look at this.’This illustrates how being curious comes naturally in certain situations. The key is to extend this behaviour to all of our communication, both at work and at home. If we can do this, we’ll jump to fewer conclusions. Also, by asking more questions we can remain regulated without becoming victims to our amygdala hijacking our emotions. As a result, we can make better decisions. Put simply, we don’t react but rather we respond. The First Principles ApproachCuriosity is also effective for problem-solving during patient interactions. The First Principles Approach involves breaking down a complex problem into its fundamental elements to understand and solve it.2 This requires questioning assumptions and reasoning from the ground up to uncover fundamental truths. By using motivational interviewing, pharmacists can uncover the underlying motivations behind behaviours. For example, when counselling a patient about quitting smoking the conversation may sound like this:Pharmacist: ‘Why do you want to quit smoking?’Patient: ‘Because I want to live longer’Pharmacist: ‘Why do you want to live longer?’Patient: ‘Because I want to see my grandchildren grow up.’Pharmacist: Why do you want to see your grandchildren grow up?Patient: Because I want to spend more time with themPharmacist: Why is that important to you?Patient: Because it makes me happy, and beyond anything else that is what I know how and what I want to feel at this point in my life. By asking questions, we can get patients to recall what motivates them. This is powerful because it empowers patients to make decisions in line with their values, resulting in lasting behavioural change.3 Being curious and asking questions helps us communicate effectively with co-workers and patients as well as in our personal relationships. The next time you encounter a situation that upsets you, ask yourself if you have enough information. Ask yourself which questions you can pose to fill in the gaps. In a nutshell, this tool can decrease stress-stacking in your life and help you prevent and manage burnout. Manjit Hansra is the founder of Rx for Renewal (www.rx-renewal.ca). Through keynote speaking, corporate wellness programs and curated retreats, he shares evidence-based and practical tools to help pharmacy organizations and pharmacists prevent and manage burnout. Subscribe to his weekly newsletter HERE.1. https://interestingliterature.com/2019/12/meaning-and-history-phrase-curiosity-killed-the-cat/#2. https://jamesclear.com/first-principles3. BJPsych Advances, Volume 24 , Issue 1 , January 2018 , pp. 46 - 53. https://doi.org/10.1192/bja.2017.7

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Did curiosity actually kill the cat?

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Manjit Hansra

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