T
TALKING HEADS
Curiosity breathes life into your organisation
C
Dr Diane Hamilton
Is your organisation
doing enough to
encourage staff to
be curious?
ompanies are collapsing at
an alarming rate. The
average life expectancy for
a current S&P company is
less than 20 years. If the lifespan of
companies continues to reduce, 75%
of the S&P 500 will be replaced by
more innovative companies by 2027.
The death of organisations can
come from status quo thinking that
inhibits innovative ideas. In today’s
volatile and changeable environment,
companies that do not embrace
curiosity will be replaced by those that
encourage and empower their people
to ask questions and share what works
and what doesn’t.
Curiosity is the spark for innovation,
engagement and productivi t y.
Organisations that fail to recognise this
will not be able to compete at a time
of exponential technological change.
While businesses may acknowledge
the need for motivated, creative,
innovative employees, they often
overlook the fact that it is curiosity
that sparks these things. To expect
productivity without igniting curiosity
is like not switching on the oven, but
expecting a cake to rise.
Companies such as Verizon and
Novartis have taken on board the
relevance of curiosity. For example,
Verizon’s CEO, Hans Vestberg, has
shaken things up by ensuring that
training programmes include content
around curiosity. Meanwhile, Novartis
has prioritised curiosity to the extent
that it rewards employees for learning.
Its chief learning officer, Simon Brown,
“To expect
productivity
without igniting
curiosity is like not
switching on the
oven, but expecting
a cake to rise”
has set a goal of employees exploring
100 hours of learning each year.
Is your company doing enough
to encourage staff to be curious? If
meetings always end in consensus,
the chances are you have status quo
thinkers — and your company could
be en route to stagnation and failure.
What can you do, as a leader, to
ensure your employees feel confident
to explore with curiosity? Begin by
finding out what might be inhibiting
them. How do fear, assumptions,
environment and technology create
barriers to people asking questions,
suggesting ideas or voicing their
concerns? Role model curiosity-
based behaviours and emulate the
skills that curious people exhibit.
Dr Diane Hamilton is founder and CEO of
Tonerra, a former MBA programme chair
at the Forbes School of Business and
author of Cracking the Curiosity Code:
The Key to Unlocking Human Potential.
“The death of organisations can come
from status quo thinking that inhibits
innovative ideas”
54 // Future Talent