GE1715

ENTREPRENEURIAL THINKING
Entrepreneurial Curiosity

Curiosity is the spark of creativity and innovation, the best long-term

investment a person can make.

It is the impulse to seek out new ideas and experiences. It is crucial to innovation because it moves people to look
at the world from a different perspective and to ask questions rather than accepting the status quo. Thus, it is an
important tool for fighting conformity.

In Egon Zehnder’s research, he found out that as the business environment became more volatile and complex, the
firm realized the importance of being able to adapt to unforeseen situations by learning new skills. It began assessing
candidates in terms of their potential in this area (Gino, 2017).

It created a model that consists of four (4) dimensions:

• Curiosity – a thirst for new experiences and knowledge; an openness to feedback, learning, and change.
• Insight – the ability to gather and synthesize information that suggests new possibilities.
• Engagement – the ability to connect with others and communicate a vision.
• Determination – the persistence to overcome obstacles and achieve difficult goals.

His research showed that curiosity was the most important of the four (4) dimensions and that people who scored
high on it were likely to score high on the other qualities as well. In fact, level of curiosity determines the readiness
with which a person will exhibit behavior associated with the other traits, and variations in people’s curiosity levels
predict variations in their job performance and innovative behaviors (Gino, 2017).

Curiosity triggers a direct response to situations that challenge our

assumptions, and our capacity to question unlocks the potential for
change that such situations represent.

Focusing on curiosity, and on potential more broadly, can shine a different light on candidates who may seem ill-
suited to a given role but who excel when faced with new challenges.

EXAMPLE: Several years ago, a global energy company asked Egon Zehnder to evaluate its prime internal candidate
for CEO. After meeting with the board of directors, Egon Zehnder developed a detailed description of the job,
mapping the competencies required in the present and those likely to be needed in the future. It assessed the
internal candidate on those skills and also presented six (6) well-qualified external candidates to the board. The
assessment showed that the internal candidate had strong operational and analytical abilities but lacked strategic
acumen and did not delegate effectively. As a result, the board thought it might need to take the time-consuming
and possibly risky step of recruiting one of the external candidates (Gino, 2017).

However, that became unnecessary once Egon Zehnder had assessed the internal candidate’s potential to adapt and
grow. Interviews with him and his colleagues revealed that he scored high on all four (4) dimensions of the model,
especially curiosity. Although he needed to refine his people skills, he had great insight and could effectively
communicate his vision. And he had a track record of surmounting obstacles and achieving challenging goals.

Egon Zehnder concluded that with mentoring and support from the board, the internal candidate could overcome
his weaknesses and adapt to changing situations as the industry continued to evolve. Viewed through the lens of the
model, he was stronger than the external candidates. The board designed a professional development program for
the year before he became CEO, giving him significant strategic-planning roles and requiring that he delegate a larger

03 Handout 1 *Property of STI

Page 1 of 2
 GE1715

portion of his operational responsibilities. Since taking the helm a few years ago, he has surpassed the board’s
expectations (Gino, 2017).
How to Enhance Entrepreneurial Curiosity
Ask the right questions
First, differentiate a good question from a bad question. In general, a bad question is one that doesn’t encourage a
substantive answer.
EXAMPLE: If you have just received an order from a new customer, “Shall I send you an invoice?” is a poor question.
This question can be answered quite easily without any detailed information that could help you speed up the entire
payment process, not to mention that the answer is quite obvious. The prospect may simply answer, “Yes.” Of
course, you could follow up with another question— “How long will it take for payment?”—but you now sound a bit
imposing and impatient. A good question in this situation would be, “What are the steps you have to go through to
issue a payment?” This question invokes a much more thorough answer without an imposing follow-up question.
Perhaps the client reveals in the answer that one of the steps is issuing a check from a third party, which takes at
least a week. Knowing this, you can now offer suggestions to expedite the payment process, such as encouraging
the client to pay with a credit card because you offer a five (5) percent discount (Johnson, 2012).

Innovation time (20% rule for cultivating ideas)

Google workers are encouraged to spend 20% of their week on new ideas that interest them. It could be the next
killer application or something more efficient for business development. Some of Google’s widely-used products,
such as Gmail and Google News, were born from this practice. Google has even estimated that as much as 50% of
their new product launches originate from innovation time. (Michaels, 2011)

The idea for implementing the 20% rule at Google goes not only to the vision of Brin and Page, but the stewardship
of CEO, Eric Schmidt, a former board member at Apple. Schmidt was brought on to accelerate growth and provide
some “parental supervision,” as Sergey once said. Schmidt is often credited with pioneering a 70/20/10 management
model that believes innovation is cultivated best when employees spend 70% of their time on core business tasks,
20% on related projects, and 10% on unrelated projects. At some universities, a similar philosophy believes that 70%
of learning comes from on-the-job experience, 20% from ongoing work with mentors, and 10% from formal training.

Always listen without judgment

Curious people have no hidden agenda. They seek to understand the perspectives of others, and are willing to sit in
ambiguity, open and curious without being invested in the outcome.

According to Kathy Taberner, co-founder of Institute of Curiosity, curious people are non-blaming, non-shaming, and
supportive, working together, focused on exploring options to find the best solution, one that supports collaboration
and leads to innovation.

REFERENCES
Canadian Foundation for Economic Education. (n.d.). Entrepreneur’s quiz. Retrieved April 16, 2018, from
http://www.cfee.org/resources/entrepreneurs-quiz.html
Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2014, November 05). Curiosity is as important as intelligence. Retrieved March 09, 2018, from
https://hbr.org/2014/08/curiosity-is-as-important-as-intelligence
Gino, F. (2017, June 20). Be curious, win at business curiosity: The critical trait for rebel talent. Retrieved April 13, 2018, from
https://hbr.org/2016/10/146326
Michaels, C. (2011). The 4 essentials of entrepreneurial thinking: What successful people didn't learn in school. California: Cliff
Michaels & Associates, Inc.
Vozza, S. (2015, December 21). 8 habits of curious people. Retrieved April 13, 2018, from
https://www.fastcompany.com/3045148/8-habits-of-curious-people

03 Handout 1 *Property of STI

Page 2 of 2