Behind every brilliant feature, platform or strategy lies one common thread: a sense of curiosity.
At many companies, an inquisitive mindset is the driving force behind innovation. According to a report from the Harvard Business Review, curiosity in the workplace can lead to better communication, greater positive changes and even less group conflict.
For Wipfli Growth Partner Brian Blaha, fostering curiosity requires investment. According to Blaha, collaboration plays a pivotal role in creating curious minds, which is why the company invests not only in professional development opportunities but also in company-wide events and celebrations.
“Some people think innovation is like a lightning strike: It’s huge, fast and amazing, and then it’s done,” Blaha said. “Yet, true, lasting innovation comes from embracing and fostering curiosity.”
At SMS Assist, Chief Product Officer Kevin McDunn believes humble confidence drives curiosity. That’s why he strives to give employees space to test out concepts and improve upon them as a team.
“I want employees to know this is a safe place to pursue their ideas and nurture them in the community,” McDunn said.
Built In Chicago caught up with Blaha, McDunn and Kathy Groth, a VP of learning design at Everspring, to learn how they inspire curiosity in their teams.
Wipfli delivers a wide range of digital solutions, such as product prototyping, cybersecurity and UX design.
How do you create a culture of curiosity, and what are some things you do to inspire curiosity in your team?
We cultivate curiosity by heavily investing in training and learning opportunities for our team. This year alone, we supported more than 41,000 hours of continuing professional education training, facilitated more than 3,000 courses in LinkedIn Learning, awarded $140,000 in tuition reimbursement for advanced degrees, and aided 1,000 people in leadership training. Each year, we host a two-week learning festival filled with webcasts and training sessions.
We also invest in fun gatherings, such as outdoor events and celebrations, and supply games and puzzles throughout the office. At our core, we offer a culture of curiosity supported by collaboration. We welcome ideas from all levels and believe every voice carries the same weight. That’s why we come together to find not the first solution, but the best one.
Our process for managing client engagements centers around what we call the “meet to learn” (MTL). During these meetings, we develop a deep understanding of our clients’ needs through empathetic listening and curiosity. We also encourage MTLs internally, opening ourselves up to new sources of information and expertise.
At our core, we offer a culture of curiosity supported by collaboration.”
Share an example of a specific moment when one of these things inspired an act of curiosity by one of your team members.
Some people think innovation is like a lightning strike: It’s huge, fast and amazing, and then it’s done. Yet, true, lasting innovation comes from embracing and fostering curiosity.
Our technology consulting team saw a problem. Over the past 30 years, technology has been fairly stagnant for business operations in the construction industry. Through MTLs and collaborative meetings, our team worked with contractors to get past those barriers and create Wipfli Connect for Contractors, a technology platform designed to revolutionize how contractors do business. That team invested thousands of hours in order to talk to hundreds of contractors. They went to sites in the cold, trudging through mud, or sweat in soaring temperatures. They saw scraps of paper crammed in pockets, crumpled spreadsheets on overflowing clipboards, and bank statements shoved in truck consoles. Once they understood the people and their pain points, they went to work creating the platform.
Every client tells us they’ve increased profits, cut hours out of paperwork and won bigger bids because of our technology. That’s how our team turns curiosity into solutions.
Everspring partners with educational institutions to develop digital programs.
How do you create a culture of curiosity, and what are some things you do to inspire curiosity in your team?
As a department of learning specialists, we are naturally very curious and are always looking for new insights about our jobs, ourselves and how our role fits into the world. We carve out time each week to share ideas as a group, learn new ways of doing our jobs and identify trends to provide the most up-to-date learning experience for our partners. Additionally, we identify annual goals that focus on research and innovation and assignments that stretch those creative muscles.
CURIOSITY AS A WAY TO CONNECT
Share an example of a specific moment when one of these things inspired an act of curiosity by one of your team members.
Several years ago, members of our team identified the growing need for accessibility in online learning. Inspired by conference sessions they attended and individual article reviews, the team conducted their own research into accessibility standards and their application to course design and educational technology. As a result, the team created a research library of best practices, which were incorporated into our daily processes and training procedures. We are now able to share this crucial component of online learning with our partners and educate them on the necessity of accessibility while making it a natural part of the course development lifecycle.
SMS Assist’s platform is designed to reduce costs and improve service levels within the facilities maintenance industry.
How do you create a culture of curiosity, and what are some things you do to inspire curiosity in your team?
Humble confidence is key to creating a culture of curiosity. I consistently reinforce this paradoxical mindset with my team, regardless of the problem we’re trying to tackle. To create delightful, human-centered products, we must first recognize that we have something to learn from everyone across all levels, backgrounds and perspectives, which is where the humility aspect comes in. For example, we host an annual hackathon, known internally as Big Idea Fest. The hackathon is open to every employee, not just our developers. Last year’s winning idea eventually became a part of our product innovation roadmap.
It’s also important to pair humility with the confidence to take immediate action. We embrace an adage coined by Stanford’s d.school (innovation hub): “Prototype as if you know you’re right, but test as if you know you’re wrong.” This means we quickly move forward with our best ideas, test them with curiosity and iterate to improve upon them. This accelerates the learning process and transforms defensiveness into celebrations of value creation. I want employees to know this is a safe place to pursue their ideas and nurture them in the community.
When you create an environment where people can test out their ideas and develop them, you’ll naturally attract curious people.”
Share an example of a specific moment when one of these things inspired an act of curiosity by one of your team members.
When you create an environment where people can test out their ideas and develop them, you’ll naturally attract curious people. We recognize this annually with Big Idea Fest and when locating talent from within our own organization.
We saw this come to life with one of our product managers, Jarod Barrera. Jarod started as a contract employee within our customer service business division, but he was constantly asking questions and making great suggestions by empathizing with our users. He was one of those individuals that was bursting at the seams with ideas — so much so, he even taught himself how to code. Jarod’s curiosity earned him a spot on our quality assurance team and eventually led to his promotion.
How do you recruit someone like that for your organization? Look for the people who have lots of insightful questions during their interviews. That kind of passion and interest is a sure sign of a curious mind.
