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Although leaders might say they value inquisitive minds, in reality most stifle curiosity, fearing it will increase risk and inefficiency. Harvard Business School’s Francesca Gino elaborates on the benefits of and common barriers to curiosity in the workplace and offers five strategies for bolstering it. Leaders should hire for curiosity, model inquisitiveness, emphasize learning goals, let workers explore and broaden their interests, and have “Why?” “What if…?” and “How might we…?” days. Doing so will help their organizations adapt to uncertain market conditions and external pressures and boost the business’s success.
The Five Dimensions of Curiosity
Psychologists have come to realize that curiosity is not a monolithic trait. George Mason University’s Todd B. Kashdan, David J. Disabato, and Fallon R. Goodman, along with linguist and educational scientist Carl Naughton, break it down into five distinct dimensions: deprivation sensitivity, joyous exploration, social curiosity, stress tolerance, and thrill seeking. They explore which dimensions lead to the best outcomes and generate particular benefits in work and life.
From Curious to Competent
The executive search firm Egon Zehnder has found that executives with extraordinary curiosity are usually able, with the right development, to advance to C-level roles. But that development is critical: Without it, a highly curious executive may score much lower on competence than less curious counterparts. Egon Zehnder’s Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, Andrew Roscoe, and Kentaro Aramaki describe the types of stretch assignments, job rotations, and other experiences needed to transform curiosity into competence.
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