Mike’s Minutes: Intellectual Curiosity - The Most Important Quality a Successful Person/Employee Can Have

You can boil it down to one thing which ultimately drives every other action on a consistent basis…Intellectual Curiosity.

People that are intellectually curious don’t count the hours in the day. They simply work until they are tired, look at the clock, and realize they have been working for 18 hours a day. Most importantly, they get the task done with a new twist.

Intellectual curiosity drives innovation, attitude, and ultimately perseverance within someone. This leads to someone ‘working hard’ in the eyes of others.

“Believe in Better” is a saying I often quote to my teams and people around me. Question why things are being done the way they are…and do it constantly. Not so constantly you don’t make progress on the task as hand, but something should always be in the back of your head asking “How can I make this better?”. If you, or your employees, aren’t asking that question…then you have a lot more questions to answer!

A few key quotes/definitions which are a solid reminder:

-      “I am neither clever nor especially gifted. I am only very, very curious” – Albert Einstein

-      Intellectual Curiosity – Defined as curiosity that leads to an acquisition of knowledge.

-      “Knowledge is a dangerous thing. But ignorance is no protection.” – Masha du Toit, The Broken Path

-      “Knowledge has a beginning but no end.” – Geeta Iyengar

-      “Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” – Albert Einstein

If you or your team members are not constantly “Challenging the status quo”, then how are you growing? How will you be more valuable within your business tomorrow than you are today?

The most dangerous phrase you can hear from anyone is “We’ve always done it this way.” If you hear this, think VERY heard about your time will be spent in the immediate future…will you cut ties immediately or do you think this person can truly UNDERSTAND things, not just know them, and shift their mindset. Many people will say “People don’t change” and that’s very true when it comes to an intellectually curious mindset.

Overall, if you’re hiring on intellectual curiosity and a person’s optimism to find new ways to tackle any task, your business will rarely have growing problems.

Cheers to always learning and seeking a way to challenge your brain constantly!

About Author

Mike Smith

Mike Smith is a Client Advisor at Lockton focusing on complex risk solutions. Management Liability, in the E&O, Cyber, Fidelity Bond, and D&O arena, is his focus for innovative risk-transfer alternatives.