OPEN TO BE CURIOUS?

Are you ever bored? That question struck me recently. We’re mostly so busy being busy that, when we aren’t, it plunges us into a state of not knowing what to do with ourselves… and so we say we’re ‘bored’.

I think the French have a good way of describing what we’re actually feeling: “Ennui” - which is defined as “a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement.” Another definition is “boredom, tedium, listlessness, lethargy, lassitude, languor, restlessness, weariness, sluggishness, enervation; malaise, dissatisfaction, unhappiness, uneasiness, unease, melancholy, depression, despondency, dejection, disquiet.”

The opposite of this is what some people call ‘the shiny object syndrome’.?Where we’re enticed to follow after, investigate and try out everything that’s new and different that comes across our paths.

Both states are equally dangerous. They’re the same pendulum but swung to opposite extremes.?

What got me thinking about this was an interesting post by David E. Marlow “From Ordinary to Extraordinary - How We View Our World”. ?David addressed the balance that I think is so important for us to have: a harmony between new and old. He says, “For me, there needs to be harmony. I don’t require ‘new’ things for the sake of having new ones. At the same time, I don’t want to hold onto old or existing things just because.” David sums it up as being ‘open to be curious’.

It’s a commonly known fact that we human beings naturally tend to resist change - at least those of us who aren’t addicted to ‘shiny new objects’! Those who are irresistibly attracted to the newest, latest, greatest ‘thing’ generally tend to try it and drop it, or fail at it, equally quickly. Those who resist change tend to put off making change until their present state becomes highly uncomfortable, or impossible to sustain. Once again, it’s the pendulum swinging to extremes.

In the tech industry, we see many ‘shiny new objects’ that don’t work well, or don’t last. We also see many that do but take a long time to gain momentum.?

The risks, learning curve, and costs in trying something new often causes organizations to hang onto their old systems for far too long because ‘if it ain’t broke, why fix it?’? Often, this is just delaying the inevitable changes that must be made. It hampers their operations which can be a source of huge frustration for their employees, their clients, and their vendors / partners.?

But that’s not all. It often also hampers development of new iterations of products and services. Suddenly the ‘old’ that’s still working really well isn’t offering all the functionality that the competitors are offering with their ‘new’.?This can sometimes put a change-resistant organization out of business, even though there’s nothing ‘wrong’ with their product. ?

The solution is usually to quickly adapt to match or better what competitors are offering. The trouble is that by that stage, their reputation has suffered damage which may affect profitability for some time to come.

Our Optevo team is hyper aware of this and it’s why we keep evolving, even though our current modules may be working just fine.?

The objective is to make that evolution relevant to what the market needs and wants.?The impetus to ensuring success, is, as David E. Marlow says, to be open and curious.?

David’s take really resonated with me. It reminded me of an article I published a year ago, also inspired by one of David’s posts: “Keeping it as simple as necessary.”

When we release new enhancements and update functionalities, we understand that our clients really don’t want to go through a lengthy and frustrating learning curve in order to get the most from the system. We also know that new clients want their onboarding to be simple, quick and cost-effective. So, not only do we design Optevo to be intuitive, we also have our dedicated Senior Customer Experience Expert Terry Farmer available to help clients get up and running seamlessly. He’s also available to answer questions and assist whenever a client needs help.

While there’s no way to avoid having to get familiar with the ‘new’, we think we’ve made each evolution super simple and convenient for our clients to use. That’s essential because when you use Optevo, you’re using a ‘Work Hub’ providing real time updates and direct access to information.?You control your workday and activities including collaborations, communications, data sharing and workflow. Being able to do what you need to do quickly and easily is the whole objective.

The question is, are you open to being curious??As David says, “When you are curious, you are interested. When you are interested, you attract new opportunities.”

#DesignLed #DesignThinking #Curiosity #Creativity #onboarding #LearningCurve #FutureOfWork #Leadership #WorkLife #HybridWork #RemoteWork #Optevo #CWM #business #technology #innovation?