Why Past Success Can Kill Future Success

We all do it. We focus on our triumphant successes. That medal we won or that time we beat our competition felt good. It should.?When we receive accolades, we release dopamine; the "feel good" neurotransmitter and "happy hormone" for a reason. Dopamine rewards us. We are like chickens poking at a button that will drop us a treat. We continue to strive to get that feeling, that reward. So, it is natural that we want to repeat what gave us that reward. The problem is, within the business setting, when we rely on what worked in the past to make us successful, it often no longer is the thing that can make us successful in the future.

Sometimes we need to be reminded of the danger of holding onto the past. When I speak to groups about curiosity, I am asked how I define it. ?I consider it, especially in the business setting, as getting out of status-quo thinking. The organizations that fail often do so because they rely on what worked in the past. This is not a new phenomenon. In a 1999 HBR article titled?Why Good Companies Go Bad, author Donald Sull explained that active inertia contributed to companies' failures.?He stated, "Active inertia is an organization's tendency to follow established patterns of behavior—even in response to dramatic environmental shifts."

The list of companies that have failed due to holding on to established patterns is extensive. We often hear about Kodak’s failure because it fell so far. In the 1980s, Kodak dominated the photography market worldwide. As the age of technology emerged, the company owned the patents to an obscure phenomenon called digital photography. The leaders feared that if they productized and sold the new technology, it would cause a decline in their film sales. Using the classic decision-making process, they decided to forgo the latest technology to protect their dominance in film-based photography. Of course, digital photography took over the industry, and if the company had focused more on digitization, chances are it would be thriving today. Instead, they failed because they held onto status-quo thinking and refused to explore this opportunity. When organizations hang onto the past, they often miss out on having a future.??

Some organizations have recognized the danger of hanging on to their past. A company that is great at this is Ben and Jerry's. One of the things that makes them innovative is that they are willing to let go of what is no longer successful. They literally bury their old flavors. They have a business funeral. On their website, they have a?gravesite for the dead and buried. For example, you might see a flavor with dates from 1993-2001 when that flavor was successful, but now, they buried it because it is no longer popular. They do not lament over the loss of the idea. They recognize it was a great idea for its time, but now it is time to move on to bigger and better things.?

There is an opportunity for organizations and individuals to get out of status-quo behaviors. However, that requires considering the things that hold us back from exploration.?Based on studying thousands of people for many years, my research determined there are four things that hold us back from being curious, which include: fear, assumptions (that voice in our head), technology (over and under-utilization of it), and environment (everyone with whom we have had contact). If we can recognize the impact of these four things, we can create goals to overcome them.?The key is to have leaders recognize this and create a culture that rewards curiosity. The great thing about curiosity is that it gives us that same dopamine rush. The organizations that recognize this will let go of their past, develop their curiosity, and build a successful future.

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For more information about the value of curiosity, check out some of the articles listed below. In addition, the Curiosity Code Index can help individuals recognize the four factors that inhibit curiosity, including Fear, Assumptions, Technology, and Environment (FATE).

• Assumptions: Silencing That Little Voice That Limits Potential
• Questioning Status-Quo Thinking
• How to Promote Curiosity in the Workplace
• Five Easy Steps to Train Employees to be Curious
• Using Curiosity to Improve Project Management
• Curiosity: The Key to Improving Communication and Collaboration
• Changing Cultural Perception Through Developing Curiosity and Empathy
• How HR Can Learn from Marketers How to Develop a Curiosity-Based Workforce
• Curiosity and Agility: The Key Predictors of Success
• Are Fear, Assumptions, Technology, and Environment Holding Your Employees Back From Their Full Potential?

Dr. Diane Hamilton is the Founder and CEO of Tonerra, which is a consulting and media-based business. She is a nationally syndicated radio host, keynote speaker, and the former MBA Program Chair at the Forbes School of Business. She has authored multiple books which are required in universities around the world, including Cracking the Curiosity Code: The Key to Unlocking Human Potential, and The Power of Perception:?Eliminating Boundaries to Create Successful Global Leaders. She is the creator of the Curiosity Code Index? assessment, which is the first and only assessment that determines the factors that inhibit curiosity and the Perception Power Index, which determines the factors that impact the perception process.