Saturday afternoon. Playground. My son with a bubble machine.

I'm watching him chase bubbles when this kid runs up.

Total stranger.

Within 30 seconds, they're best friends.

Sharing the bubble machine. Making up games. Laughing like they've known each other forever.

No awkward introductions. No overthinking. Just pure curiosity about what the other person was doing.

Meanwhile, I get messages from UX designers every week:

"I hate networking events."

"LinkedIn outreach feels so fake."

"I don't know what to say to people I don't know."

We've made connecting with other humans this complicated thing.

When really, it's just curiosity.

My son didn't walk up with a script. He didn't worry about seeming desperate or pushy.

He saw something interesting and wanted to be part of it.

Most designers approach networking like they're interrupting people.

"Sorry to bother you, but..."

"I know you're busy, but..."

"I hope this doesn't sound weird, but..."

You're apologizing before you even start.

But what if you approached it like a 3-year-old?

Pure curiosity about what someone else is building.

No agenda. No pitch. Just genuine interest.

Most job search advice tells you to be strategic.

Map out your targets. Craft your messaging. Follow up systematically.

All good advice.

But it misses the most important part: being genuinely curious about other people's work.

My son doesn't think about what he can get from that bubble interaction.

He just thinks it looks fun.

When you approach career conversations with that same energy, everything changes.

People stop feeling like networking targets.

They become actual humans doing interesting work.

And humans help other humans.

Especially when those humans show genuine interest in what they're building.

This shift in mindset is exactly what we work on in Career Creators.

Not just the tactics of outreach (though we cover those too).

But the deeper approach that makes everything else work.

How to be genuinely curious instead of strategically desperate.

How to ask questions that people actually want to answer.

How to build relationships that benefit everyone involved.

If you want to approach your career like a curious 3-year-old instead of an anxious applicant, reply "Bubbles" and I'll send you the info.

P.S. My son made four new friends at that playground. Not because he was trying to network. Because he was interested in what they were doing.

Worth thinking about.