Gaudi and the Fine Art of Curiosity

Fast Forward Slow Architecture: A Blueprint for Curiosity

When I started explaining the challenges of digital strategy, I didn’t picture slick, shiny tech. Instead, I envisioned the grandeur of a Gothic cathedral—the kind that towers over Antwerp or Cologne. These weren’t just built; they were crafted slowly over generations, each arch and spire a testament to ideation through execution. Because in the world of cathedrals, much like business today, you don’t wait for perfection. You start with what you know and build layer by layer.

Cathedrals as Living Strategies

These Gothic cathedrals—designed to bring worshippers closer to the divine—were “works in progress.” Builders adapted constantly, shifting as funds, styles, or patrons’ desires changed. In Antwerp’s Cathedral of Our Lady, you can find over thirty types of sandstone, each layered in tune with the latest insights of its time. No blueprint lasted long before reality demanded a shift.

Take Antwerp’s cathedral, which wasn’t built on the ruins of an earlier Romanesque church, but rather around it. It wasn’t until nearly 150 years later, with a half-finished cathedral in place, that the old structure came down. Worshippers prayed amid scaffolding, watching as their church expanded and changed, reacting to new needs, technologies, and funds.

Ideation While Execution

This notion of adapting as you build—of ideation while execution—runs through my recent book, Net Curiosity Score. There’s something deeply Gothic about starting with a foundation while accepting that each new layer of insight, each pivot, adds strength. In business today, curiosity is the mortar binding each brick of our strategy, and it’s what propels us forward as we build in real time.

Just like those cathedral builders, we’re all forced to be flexible in the face of an ever-shifting reality. Smart companies understand this, embracing “fast forward slow architecture.” And for them, curiosity is not just a spark; it’s a strategic pillar, a KPI, and yes, the “net score” that guides each step forward.

Gaudí’s “Upside-Down” Vision

For a living, breathing example of ideation in motion, look no further than Gaudí’s Sagrada Família in Barcelona. Since 1882, this basilica has been under constant construction, fueled by Gaudí’s upside-down approach to architecture. Gaudí wasn’t a conventional architect; he didn’t produce neat blueprints or exact materials lists. Instead, he visualized through “hanging chain” models, using chains and weights to create a gravity-inspired, inverted 3D design. Gaudí was curiosity personified, challenging every standard of architectural convention, constructing a space based on a vision in constant flux.

He spent 43 years working on the Sagrada Família, living on-site in his later years to lose as little time as possible. After his death, engineers relied on his sketches and models, adapting to new technology and tools. Fast forward to today, and they’re using aviation-grade simulation software to continue his work—technology Gaudí himself could never have imagined.

When you walk through the Sagrada Família, what you’re seeing is an upside-down model come to life. The columns and vaults mirror Gaudí’s “hanging” model, reminding us that sometimes the best way forward is to flip the problem around, or even turn it on its head.

Building with Curiosity as a Core Principle

My Net Curiosity Score book is built on the same idea: that we’re constantly evolving, adapting, refining—and that curiosity is the foundation that keeps us moving forward. The business world today, much like Gaudí’s masterpiece, is an “upside-down” environment. Instead of traditional linear strategies, businesses need to respond, adapt, and learn in real time. “Ideation while execution” is not just a luxury—it’s a necessity.

Today’s most successful companies don’t follow a rigid master plan any more than Gaudí did. They pivot, they adapt, they let curiosity guide them, knowing that there is no finished product, only a work in progress. They practice what I call fast forward slow architecture: moving quickly while keeping curiosity and adaptability at their core. This means being open to flipping the conventional business model on its head, just as Gaudí hung his chains and mirrors upside-down to find his vision.

Curiosity: The Real Building Block of Strategy

So, think of Gaudí when you’re trying to build a digital strategy in today’s world. Turn your business model upside down. Reverse traditional roles. Take the chain of processes and let it run right to left, not left to right. Curiosity isn’t just something that adds color—it’s the block-by-block foundation of your competitive edge.

In Net Curiosity Score, I emphasize that measuring curiosity—making it your KPI—keeps your organization nimble, always ready to adapt to the next insight. Like those Gothic builders who started with a vague blueprint and then let the building itself show them what it needed, companies today can’t afford to plan everything down to the last detail. We have to build, measure, learn, and then build some more.

Gaudí, I believe, would have been proud. Because ultimately, curiosity isn’t an add-on; it’s the engine driving every daring venture, every upside-down business model, every brilliant strategy. So, keep building with curiosity as your scaffolding and let each brick you lay become the foundation of the next.