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It is crucial to recognize the importance to foster curiosity in employees, especially in a time of innovation-struggled organizations.
Leaders know that maintaining status quo thinking can lead to inefficiency and even damage to their organization’s culture. Even the most successful companies can fall prey to the status-quo thinking trap. Leaders should now allow their employees to explore new possibilities and pose questions.
Leaders can break the cycle of status-quo thinking by encouraging curiosity within their organizations. This will allow them to create innovative cultures within their organization.
It is not enough to know whether employees are curious. It is important to understand what hinders them. Research has shown that curiosity is impeded by fear, assumptions, technology, and the environment. Leaders can now shift their corporate culture to embrace curiosity and share this understanding with their employees.
Although most leaders acknowledge their curiosity, only half of employees feel that curiosity has been rewarded. It is worth looking at the best practices of successful organizations to foster a culture of curiosity.
1. They look for answers in unlikely places
Organizations that embrace a culture based on curiosity look beyond how things are done and ask questions like:
Why is it so difficult?
Why not do it differently?
What if we tried something new?
Sometimes the most unlikely places can provide creative and innovative ideas. Leaders who are open to thinking outside the box and outside their industry can have greater success.
An example: Great Ormond Street Hospital, London
A hospital in London suffered a significant number of casualties while transferring patients from the operating table to recovery. After seeing how a Formula One racing team serviced their cars, doctors were inspired. The race team was invited by the hospital to view its transfer procedures and make observations based on them. The hospital saw a dramatic reduction in errors thanks to the team’s input.
Takeaways
Organizations can offer “what if,” “why not,” and “how can you” days to encourage employees to think outside the box. This will help improve company culture. Employees should be able to spend time in other departments and divisions to gain new perspectives and avoid silos. Employees can also research other industries to find solutions to problems similar to theirs.
Leaders should ask themselves what they can do to break out of the status quo and model the values that they want their employees to emulate.
2. They let go of the past
It is important to be curious and consider why something that worked in past may not work in future. This could require a culture shift. Marshall Goldsmith’s book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There was a crucial success in work culture because he highlighted something that many leaders hadn’t considered. It can be easy to believe that we have solved the problem of workplace culture. We might discover that what worked in the past may not be relevant for today’s market if we rest on these laurels.
The world has changed. Why is this happening? Smartsheet transforms your work.
Example: Ben and Jerry’s
Ben and Jer is an organization that embraces this idea.