Keeping Cultures Full of Curiousity

On a warm summer day in July of 1679, a young physicist published a set of observations that rocked the scientific community: that simple objects on Earth are governed by the same set of natural laws as greater celestial bodies.

That curious scientist, a young man named Isaac Newton – ultimately launched a scientific revolution of unparalleled proportions. His breakthrough findings, which we would later call gravity, helped others discover many more inner workings of nature.

While your ideas for how technology can power your business may not be quite so dramatic they often begin with a simple idea that breaks from the past. Maybe you've used technology to tap markets you had previously considered unavailable. You’ve likely employed technology to squeeze cost from your supply chain – or deliver business intelligence to your senior executives, not in weekly reports, but in real time. Many of you have collaborated with your peers to create customer value propositions that - without technology - could not have been offered.

Throughout the centuries, curious people with a passion to know have made critical discoveries that changed entire disciplines - or just made things more efficient.

How can you keep a healthy curiosity going at your company? Bureaucratic organizations are not always set up intellectually (or physically) to encourage creative thinking. In fact, the modern-day cubical has actually shown to prevent creative thought (if you know who invented it, let me know so I can declare him or her an enemy of the state).

Or, check out the guys at futurethink. Founded by futurist Lisa Bodell (a serial entrepreneur), they seem to have a passion for anything innovative. 

In addition to its field trips (that get you out of the office to think out of the box) futurethink has some things on their web site that are pretty engaging. For example, what's holding you back?  Click on futurethink's Diagnosis and take a few minutes to find out.