Daily Inspiration: “You’ll never suffer from having an excess of curiosity!”

“You’ll never suffer from having an excess of curiosity!” – Futurist  Jim Carroll

I’ve always liked the children’s book series which involved Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat. It was fabulous to read to my kids, as it featured this adorable little monkey who was always thinking about things and always ended up getting into trouble as a result.

It often made me think about the link between curiosity and future trends and innovation.

Here’s the thing: in many organizations, curiosity is stifled and abhorred. Leaders would prefer that their staff simply remain in a drone-like state, focused on getting things done, rather than figuring out how to do things better!

What should be done about that sad reality? It should be obvious for anyone with a curious mind – curiosity should be encouraged as part of your corporate or organizational DNA – people should be provided with some sort of “curiosity time” – while unfocused curiosity is great, channeling curiosity into activity is even better – the next step beyond having curiosity involves learning how to ask the right questions

And maybe it needs to be taken a step further: Curiosity should be imbued and baked into the organizational structure, and given a suitable level of importance.

Why not have a senior VP of Curiosity?