cultivate the winning habit of intellectual curiosity
DESCRIPTION
Who says innovation is hard? All you have to do is observe the world around you, connect the dots &, voila, you have a new product that will take the world by storm! We all know that isn't true. The secret to innovation is that in order to connect the dots, you first have to collect them. And that’s where most companies fall short – they keep collecting the same old dots & connecting them in the same old ways. Sometimes, innovation really does happen in a blinding flash of insight. But most of the time, it results from seeing what already exists in the world & putting it together in new & different ways. And that requires two things – intellectual curiosity & a commitment to taking the time to pause & look around. Today’s leaders not only have to know their own sectors & businesses well, they also need a sense of curiosity about other sectors, their customers, & the world in general. This kind of intellectual curiosity can be learned. But it has become much harder to slow ourselves down enough to practice the habits required to develop it. Cultivating intellectual curiosity starts with the belief that pausing to look around is not only valuable but necessary. Then we need to build ways of slowing down into our daily routines, so that we take the time to pause & look around even when our brains are screaming at us to run faster. This requires establishing new ways of working, new habits that incorporate this curiosity & translate it into a business advantage. I recommend the following: • Subscribe to trend and futurist websites. Once a month, have someone on your team present an executive summary of a trend. Then spend 15 minutes talking about what it might mean to your ecosystem (customers, employees, vendors, suppliers, etc.). • Consider your own internal data. Ask employees questions like: What do you consider to be the greatest challenge to our products, services or customers? What do you see that could potentially put us out of business? What ways of interacting with other companies or products do you love that we could apply in our organization? • Visit www.ted.com to hear short presentations. Have someone watch a TED video that, on the surface, has nothing to do with your business or industry, & present a lunch-and-learn session for the rest of your staff. • Read more of what’s going on in your industry. Read across multiple genres. Read your competitor’s websites. Spend 15 minutes each day studying news from several different sources. • At weekly management meetings, talk about an idea or technique from another industry & how it might apply to your business. • Invite a business associate to lunch & learn about their business. Look for things that surprise you. Pay attention to information that makes you uncomfortable. Beware of internal thought bubbles that say, “That’s the dumbest idea I ever heard!” Use these techniques to build the habit of looking up & around and you’ll be aTRANSCRIPT
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The winning habit of
intellectual curiosity
www.TheHumanFactor.biz www.MoreThanaMinute.com
To thrive today & continue to succeed tomorrow, you have to innovate
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Many companies collect the same information the same ways they always have
We don’t believe what we see… We see what we already believe…
…and we seek constantly to prove ourselves right
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www.TheHumanFactor.biz www.MoreThanaMinute.com
Take time to pause & look around
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Force yourself to look in new places & at new ways of doing
things
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Build ways of slowing down into
daily routines
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Subscribe to trend websites.
1 x per month have an executive summary of a
trend. What might it mean to
your customers, your industry, your business?
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Consider internal data
Ask & listen: What do you consider the
greatest challenge facing our company?
What do you think is going to put us out of business?
What should we do differently?
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Watch TED & TED-like videos
Discuss as a group Present throughout your organization
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Read across multiple genres Study your own industry Review your competitor’s websites Gather news from various diverse sources
Examine other successful products & services
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Talk about other industries Ponder & discuss: What can we learn from them? What is similar about our customers? What is similar about our approach, products, services…?
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Go to lunch with someone from another company
Learn about their business, their customers, their products…
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Notice more Look for things that surprise you Pay attention to information that makes you uncomfortable
Beware of thinking- that doesn’t apply to us; that’s a dumb idea; that won’t work here…
Use these techniques to create the habit of looking up & around.
You’ll be amazed at what you see & thunk!
Contact [email protected] if you
want to win in business!
Holly G. Green the architect of pause™
& thinking to thrive expert
www.TheHumanFactor.biz www.MoreThanaMinute.com