Working as a temp in a law firm many years ago, I spotted a big mistake in a contract that everyone had missed – including some of London’s leading lawyers.

I could have kept quiet, given that great (and expensive) legal minds had already studied the document. Also, as a temp without legal background I was hardly in a position to question the error. But I did.

I always encourage critical thinking in people on my team, whether it’s junior support staff in my EA work or as an editor and content designer on digital projects. Now it appears that this common sense approach is one of the hottest new management trends called ‘curiosity’. 

Asking questions in a way that doesn’t upset the people in charge

I spotted an article on Forbes yesterday about how “diplomatic curiosity” promises to revolutionise how we function at work.

Allow me to translate: “diplomatic curiosity” means asking questions in a way that doesn’t upset the people in charge.

As I read through the piece, I couldn’t help but think about how these endless workplace trends affect executive assistants specifically.

We’re the ones expected to implement them, champion them. We somehow magically make them work within organisations that are often structurally opposed to what they’re supposedly promoting.

We’ve seen this film before

If you’ve been working in support roles for any length of time, you’ve witnessed the parade of workplace trends march through your organisation. Emotional intelligence. Growth mindset. Psychological safety. Servant leadership. And now, diplomatic curiosity.

Each arrives with a flurry of emails from HR, perhaps a mandatory training session, and a handful of leaders suddenly peppering the term into every meeting.

Then, like clockwork, the excitement fades, the term disappears from company communications, and nothing fundamentally changes.

A chief executive I once supported had a new management book on his desk every month. Each represented the “revolutionary approach” that would transform our workplace.

He’d ask me to order copies for the entire leadership team, arrange discussion sessions and create implementation plans. Three weeks later, a new book would appear and we’d start the cycle again. None of these ideas ever had time to take root, let alone flower.

I bet he has a book on diplomatic curiosity on his desk right now.

The frustrating irony for EAs

The particular irony of “diplomatic curiosity” for executive assistants is that we’ve been practising this skill since the profession began.

We ask questions constantly. It’s how we anticipate needs, solve problems before they arise and navigate complex organisational politics.

When a senior leader sends a cryptic email about an urgent meeting, we delicately investigate to understand what’s really happening. When we spot a potential clash in priorities, we carefully inquire about true deadlines and importance. When we notice our executive heading toward a decision without crucial information, we find tactful ways to ensure they have the complete picture.

Diplomatic curiosity? We’re masters at it. The Forbes article describes it as a revolutionary concept, but for us, it’s Tuesday.

The real problem isn’t lack of curiosity

What frustrates me about these workplace trends is that they rarely address the actual problems in organisations. The issue isn’t that employees don’t know how to ask questions. It’s that organisational structures and cultures actively discourage questioning, especially from certain roles.

I’ve sat in meetings where an EA’s question (often the most insightful one in the room) is brushed aside, only to be celebrated when a director asks the exact same thing five minutes later. I’ve watched brilliant support professionals learn to silence themselves because their curiosity was labelled as “stepping out of their lane” or being “difficult”.

The Forbes article hints at this reality when it mentions leaders who “see questions as a challenge to their authority” but frames this as a problem to be navigated rather than a dysfunction to be addressed.

Let’s talk about what EAs really need

Instead of another vague concept to implement, what would actually help executive assistants thrive at work?

Recognition that we already possess many of these “breakthrough” skills that get repackaged as workplace trends. We’ve been practising diplomatic curiosity, emotional intelligence and adaptive leadership long before they became corporate buzzwords.

Organisational cultures that value input regardless of title or position. If companies truly want the benefits of diplomatic curiosity, they need to create environments where questions are welcomed from everyone, not just those with impressive job titles.

Leaders who understand that our questions aren’t challenges to their authority but essential contributions to better decision-making. The best executives I’ve supported actively sought my perspective precisely because I saw things from a different angle.

Time to actually implement meaningful changes. Most EAs, PAs, secretaries and other management support professionals I know are already stretched thin. Adding another conceptual framework to champion without removing anything from our plates isn’t helpful – it’s exhausting.

The truth about workplace trends

Let’s be brutally honest. Most workplace trends aren’t designed to make work better for employees. They’re designed to extract more value while maintaining existing power structures.

“Diplomatic curiosity” isn’t about encouraging genuine inquiry; it’s about teaching employees to package their questions in ways that don’t threaten the status quo.

For executive assistants, this creates a particular bind. We’re often expected to both embody these trends and shield our executives from having to meaningfully engage with them.

We get the additional work without the organisational change that might actually improve our working lives.

A more useful approach

If you’re an EA looking at yet another workplace trend and wondering how to respond, here’s my suggestion: be selectively interested.

Take what’s useful from these concepts and quietly discard the rest. If “diplomatic curiosity” offers language that helps you navigate a difficult situation, use it. If it feels like another layer of corporate speak that adds no value, don’t waste your limited time and energy on it.

Trust your instincts about which organisational initiatives are genuinely designed to improve working conditions and which are simply the latest management fad.

You already know how to ask effective questions

After all, you sit at the intersection of leadership decisions and practical implementation. You have a uniquely valuable perspective on what actually works.

Most importantly, recognise that you already possess profound wisdom about your organisation. You don’t need a Forbes article to tell you how to ask effective questions. You’ve been doing it successfully for years, or you wouldn’t be able to function in your role.

The next time someone enthusiastically mentions “diplomatic curiosity” in a meeting, feel free to nod politely. But know that what they’re presenting as revolutionary is simply a core part of what you already do every day, just with a fancier name and a bigger price tag attached.