The importance of innovation at the highest levels of business is undeniable. So, what does curiosity have to do with innovation?  One simple formula drives innovation in every company:

 Curiosity + Creativity = Innovation

It is impossible to innovate without fostering creativity. And, it’s impossible to be creative unless you have curious people and a curious company!

Curiosity is the precursor to all of this. Hire for curiosity and you have a better chance of success. Nurture and grow curiosity and a company’s creativity and ability to innovate go up. By allowing people to be more curious, to question the status quo and to stretch each other’s thinking, engagement and, as a result, business performance will be off the charts. Employee engagement studies (Gallup 2013) show that fully-engaged employees perform 202% better on performance drivers than other employees.

That is the amazing thing about curiosity. We see this trait in people in myriad positions at high performing organizations. Subconsciously we know it is important, but we fail to realize how critical it is. Even worse, most organizations, through leadership and processes, actually create environments that impede and destroy curiosity --- and they don’t even realize they’re doing this. However, the great news is this can be changed, and curiosity can be developed and grown in any organization.

Creating a Culture for Support 

Although recruiters can seek out curious individuals, these behaviors can be nurtured or suppressed on the job. This is where most companies fail.

Both culture and climate impact curiosity levels and make them vary greatly in organizations. Supportive organizations have some of the most curious people because they are more nurturing. However, even in these organizations we see wide variability in curiosity levels because while culturally they may be more supportive, at the individual team level, leaders create climates that are inconsistent with this culture. Conversely, rigid, hierarchal or command-and-control organizations suppress and even stifle curiosity. Organizations with high levels of structure and process definitely fall into this category.

The most common ways organizations can support curiosity include:

• Providing flexibility in how work is accomplished. Success is success, regardless of how it gets done. Organizations should provide latitude for people to figure out things on their own.
• By providing guided judgement, organizations can put boundaries in place that allow employees to be good stewards of the business while giving them the freedom to exercise their own curiosity and creativity.
• Empowering employees to own and grow their own ideas.
• Letting employees lead teams and making sure they get credit for these accomplishments.
• Giving employees the time and resources to explore new ideas. Look for ways to connect people with different skill sets and experiences on shared projects.
• Recognizing employees for their ideas and accomplishments. Public recognition is the best form of recognition, as it energizes both the individual employee and others in the organization.

To be innovative, a business must be curious first. Hiring for curiosity definitely helps achieve this goal, but the work doesn’t stop there. An organization must continuously engage, develop, and manage its people in a way that promotes curiosity. If not, curiosity will quickly be suppressed. Worse, those curious team members will soon seek employment elsewhere.

Michael Hvisdos is founder and CEO of InQuizo. He can be reached directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Janet Gerhard is managing partner and CXO of InQuzio. She can be reached directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..