By Mike Bossy

Jill (my wife) and I often talk about how it seems no one asks us questions anymore; we suffer from a form of invisibility. But I recently countered that thought with the idea that maybe it’s better to be interested than interesting.

While waiting for a flight from Phoenix, I was reading a New York Times article by David Brooks. The article talked about the “art of conversation”. The quality of a conversation depends on the quality of the question. There were also other tips on how to have deeper conversations.

The series Ted Lasso also comes in to play. There was a scene where Ted was challenged to a game of darts by the former owner of the soccer club Ted coaches at. In typical Ted Lasso fashion, Ted talked about being underestimated his entire life. Ted related a quote by Walt Whitman, “Be curious, not judgmental.” Ted wasn’t being underestimated when he was young, others were just not curious about him.

I have always been curious when I meet new people. My career has allowed me to meet all kinds of interesting people, people that know the what and the how of things I am not strong in. Maybe I have underestimated myself in life because I wasn’t curious about me.