How To Solve 5 Ways Organizations Fail To Develop Curiosity At Work

How To Solve 5 Ways Organizations Fail To Develop Curiosity At Work

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Many organizations are working hard to build a culture of curiosity, yet they often struggle to measure whether those efforts are making a difference. Without a way to track curiosity before and after training, it is difficult to know if employees are changing how they approach questions, ideas, and technology at work. That challenge led me to begin creating an assessment designed to measure curiosity specifically in the workplace. As part of developing that tool, I ran a survey with 200 full-time employees across the United States to see how they would respond to curiosity-focused questions. The results gave me an early read on the effectiveness of the questions, but they also revealed something more important: curiosity is thriving in individuals, yet struggling to gain consistent reinforcement from leadership and culture.

1. Leaders Don’t Encourage Curiosity

In the survey, just 59 percent of employees agreed that leaders in their workplace encourage questions and curiosity. The encouraging side is that employees themselves are still showing confidence in asking questions. The discouraging side is that leaders are not consistently reinforcing it. Without reinforcement, curiosity fails to thrive.

When leaders fail to listen, the results can be costly. In aviation and manufacturing, there have been well-documented cases where employees flagged issues but were ignored. What might have been solved in early questioning became disasters later on. That is the cost of leaders who silence curiosity rather than encourage it.

On the other hand, companies that put curiosity at the center of leadership practice show what is possible. Microsoft under Satya Nadella became a different organization by emphasizing growth mindset and encouraging leaders to listen and ask. Employees reported more freedom to question long-held practices, and the company returned to growth after years of stagnation.

The fix here is simple in concept but challenging in practice. Leaders need to ask questions themselves and show curiosity in action. If employees never see leaders asking, they will never believe curiosity is valued.

2. New Curiosity-Inspired Ideas Don’t Get Taken Seriously

Only 53 percent of employees agreed that new ideas are likely to be taken seriously. The good news is that employees are willing to bring forward ideas. The bad news is that they do not trust those ideas will be acted on. That lack of trust discourages future contributions.

There are stark examples of this failure. In several major corporations, front-line employees raised ideas about product safety or efficiency but saw them ignored. Those ignored warnings later became expensive recalls and damaged reputations. The lack of seriousness toward ideas cost more than any risk of listening ever would have.

Contrast that with companies that do take ideas seriously. Square was born when someone asked a simple question: what if small merchants could accept credit cards as easily as large ones? Because the idea was taken seriously, it grew into a multi-billion-dollar company. Curiosity in action led to an entirely new business model.

The fix is to create structured ways for ideas to be captured and tested. Not every idea will succeed, but every idea deserves to be taken seriously enough to evaluate.

3. Recognition For Asking Questions And Demonstrating Curiosity Is Weak

Only 47 percent of employees said they receive recognition for asking thoughtful questions. The strength in this finding is that employees are still asking, but the weakness is clear: they rarely see acknowledgment. Without acknowledgment, curiosity feels invisible.

We have seen many companies celebrate results but ignore the questions that led there. That sets the expectation that only outcomes matter. When employees realize that asking the right question is never noticed, they stop asking.

Other companies have taken the opposite approach. At SurveyMonkey, curiosity is woven into the culture. Employees are encouraged to ask better questions, not just deliver answers. That recognition has helped the company maintain innovation in a competitive market.

The fix is to make recognition for curiosity part of how organizations operate. Leaders can highlight the question that sparked a project, not just the project outcome. Recognizing questions creates a culture where curiosity is clearly rewarded.

4. Employees Don’t Have Enough Time To Explore Their Curiosity

Only 58 percent of employees said they have enough time at work to ask questions and explore new ideas. The positive takeaway is that more than half still see some time. The negative takeaway is that nearly half do not. Curiosity cannot thrive without space to breathe.

In many workplaces, pressure to hit daily numbers leaves no room for exploration. Employees learn that any time spent questioning is seen as wasted. This is common in industries that prize efficiency above all else, but it comes at a cost. Over time, employees stop suggesting new ideas because they have been trained that time for curiosity does not exist.

Other companies have proven the opposite. 3M’s long-standing policy of giving employees 15 percent of their time for personal projects led to innovations like Post-it notes. Dropbox has hosted Hack Weeks where employees step away from the usual schedule to experiment. Both approaches formalized time for curiosity, and innovation followed.

The fix is to make exploration part of the calendar, not an afterthought. Whether through hackathons, dedicated project time, or small windows in the week, giving employees space signals that curiosity is part of their culture.

5. Collaboration Across Teams Is Limited Causing Curiosity To Decline

Just 49 percent of employees said they see more collaboration across teams because of curiosity. The positive angle is that some collaboration is happening. The negative is that more than half do not experience it. Curiosity trapped in silos is curiosity wasted.

The consequences of poor collaboration are well known. In healthcare, patient outcomes suffer when specialists work in isolation rather than sharing perspectives. Complex challenges require multiple viewpoints, yet silos often keep questions locked within departments.

The Chilean miners’ rescue shows what happens when collaboration is done well. Specialists from NASA, drilling experts, and engineers who had never worked together before had to share ideas and adapt quickly. No one had the answer alone, but together they saved lives. That is collaboration born of curiosity and openness.

The fix is to create intentional spaces where people from different teams can question and problem-solve together. Curiosity grows stronger when everyone works together.

The Two Sides Of Curiosity At Work

The survey showed two sides of curiosity at work. Employees are confident asking questions, willing to experiment, and eager to learn from mistakes. But they are not always encouraged by leaders, recognized for their curiosity, given time to explore, or supported in cross-team collaboration. These five failures reveal how organizations unintentionally hold back curiosity, even when employees are ready to bring it forward. This research showed that curiosity is thriving in individuals but struggling in culture. Leaders who close the gap by encouraging questions, taking ideas seriously, recognizing curiosity, creating time for exploration, and supporting collaboration will see the benefits. Curiosity at work is critical because it is the foundation of innovation, engagement, and growth.