The courage to be curious: what can we learn from 3 brands who took the leap?

By Tom Vogt , Senior Principal, Incite US

Robust curiosity is the basis for our modern world. Considering a curiosity-free world (see The Invention of Lying) would be a rather bleak exercise. Applied curiosity has led to moon landings, pickle and peanut butter sandwiches, and iPhones.??

Shifting perceptions is the basis for curiosity: ‘what if?’ ‘why?’ and ‘I wonder…’ often precede engaging curiosity and the resulting shift toward new and/or altered perceptions.?

We live in disrupted times. Our clients face profound changes in their markets. Applying a truly curious mindset is necessary to adapt to those changes and craft meaningful responses. Doubling down on the status quo is a safe and easy response, and all too often the go-to for anxious companies hanging on to market share.?

Exercising curiosity requires courage and comfort with the unfamiliar by asking new and different sorts of questions.??

Many brands in recent history have exercised their curiosity with varied results. Here are three examples, and what we can learn from them.?

1 | Fujifilm – invest in your expertise?

When Fujifilm’s film making division was failing in a digital era, they re-invented themselves by being curious about how to apply their expertise in understanding and handling chemistry.??

They formed Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, which is now a leading contract manufacturer for biopharmaceuticals.?

While Fujifilm were bravely applying curiosity, Kodak failed due to fear. Kodak actually invented digital cameras in 1975, but it feared that digital photography would cannibalize its traditional film business so failed to invest in its own invention. In a vital era of change they missed out on the opportunity to leverage digital photography to their advantage and went bankrupt in 2012.?

This documentary from FD Finance is great deep dive exploring how Fujifilm survived where Kodak didn’t - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEgEAzaybRY ?

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2 | Google – a culture of curiosity = innovation?

Larry Page and Sergey Brin are famous for expressing curiosity. They saw how keyword-based searches could be easily gamed and developed an algorithm leveraging multiple site elements that could measure relevance more accurately.??

They revitalized a 1950s era 3M program (15% rule) to roll out Google’s 20%-time policy. To promote curiosity, staff can spend 20% of their time on projects outside their core job role. The policy led to the creation of Gmail, Maps, and Google Earth. (Sadly, over time, the 20% rule has received much criticism for transitioning simply into ‘overtime.’)?

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3 | The Microwave – curiosity resulted in a turning point for US food culture?

An old-school example is that of Percy Spencer whose story sounds like trite propaganda. Born in the late 19th century, orphaned, and educated only until the age of 10, Spencer got involved in the early days of radio (the internet of its day) making vacuum tubes. By 1945 he worked assembling radar equipment and noticed that a chocolate bar liquified when near a radar magnetron.

He pursued his curiosity and ended up inventing the microwave oven—demonstrating it by making popcorn. The company was soon producing Amana Radarange ovens, and by the 1980s most US households knew the scent of microwave popcorn.?

So when you’re creating that next survey or discussion guide, or when typing up that next report, let your curiosity run a bit wild. Go beyond the focused objectives. Who knows how your applied curiosity might impact your client.?

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