Curiosity Loops
by Ada Chen Rekhi • Executive Coach & Co-founder at Notejoy
Former SVP of Marketing at SurveyMonkey, Founder of Connected (acquired by LinkedIn), led growth marketing at LinkedIn. Currently coaches founders on scaling themselves.
🎙️ Episode Context
Ada Chen Rekhi joins Lenny to discuss career strategy, decision-making frameworks, and the nuances of leadership. She introduces the 'Curiosity Loop' for gathering contextual advice, breaks down the 'Explore and Exploit' phases of career development, and shares how to cultivate a 'Values-Based Inner Scorecard' to combat the ego monster. The conversation also touches on navigating Silicon Valley as a woman and the importance of 'eating your vegetables' in skill acquisition.
Problem It Solves
Prevents 'bad advice' that lacks context and avoids the paralysis of indecision by gathering diverse, high-quality data points quickly.
Framework Overview
A structured method for gathering contextual advice from a curated group of peers rather than relying on a single mentor or vague questions. It involves asking specific questions to a mix of subject matter experts and people who know you personally to uncover blind spots.
⚡ Step-by-Step Framework
Ask a specific, unbiased question (avoid 'What should I do?').
Curate the audience: Mix subject matter experts with those who know your context.
Reduce cognitive load: Make it easy for them to answer (e.g., 'Pick top 2 of 9').
Close the loop: Process the data and thank them by sharing the outcome.
Ask a specific, unbiased question (avoid 'What should I do?').
Curate the audience: Mix subject matter experts with those who know your context.
Reduce cognitive load: Make it easy for them to answer (e.g., 'Pick top 2 of 9').
Close the loop: Process the data and thank them by sharing the outcome.
When to Use
When facing a significant decision (career pivot, product direction, personal dilemma) where you feel indecisive or stuck.
Common Mistakes
Asking vague questions, asking only one person (single point of failure), or failing to follow up with those who helped.
Real World Example
Ada used this to select topics for this very podcast interview by emailing 10-11 friends a list of 9 potential topics and asking them to pick their top two.
Curiosity loops are my method of... really thinking about how do you make your advice contextual.
— Ada Chen Rekhi