Page 111 - Harvard Business Review, Sep/Oct 2018

To identify potential employees who major locations, assembling the staff at Why do we refrain from asking
are T-shaped, IDEO pays attention to each stop. Employees expected a long questions? Because we fear we’ll be judged
how candidates talk about past projects. presentation but instead got a simple incompetent, indecisive, or unintelligent.
Someone who focuses only on his or her question: “What is the one thing I Plus, time is precious, and we don’t want
own contributions may lack the breadth should do to make things better for to bother people. Experience and expertise
to appreciate collaboration. T-shaped you?” Dyke would listen carefully and exacerbate the problem: As people climb
candidates are more likely to talk about then ask, “What is the one thing I should the organizational ladder, they think they
how they succeeded with the help of do to make things better for our viewers have less to learn. Leaders also tend to
others and to express interest in working and listeners?” believe they’re expected to talk and
collaboratively on future projects. The BBC’s employees respected provide answers, not ask questions.
To assess curiosity, employers can also their new boss for taking the time to ask Such fears and beliefs are misplaced,
ask candidates about their interests outside questions and listen. Dyke used their my recent research shows. When we
of work. Reading books unrelated to one’s responses to inform his thinking about demonstrate curiosity about others by
own field and exploring questions just the changes needed to solve problems asking questions, people like us more
for the sake of knowing the answers are facing the BBC and to identify what to and view us as more competent, and the
indications of curiosity. And companies work on first. After officially taking the heightened trust makes our relationships
can administer curiosity assessments, reins, he gave a speech to the staff that more interesting and intimate. By asking
which have been validated in a myriad of reflected what he had learned and showed questions, we promote more-meaningful
studies. These generally measure whether employees that he had been truly interested connections and more-creative outcomes.
people explore things they don’t know, in what they said. Another way leaders can model
analyze data to uncover new ideas, read By asking questions and genuinely curiosity is by acknowledging when they
widely beyond their field, have diverse listening to the responses, Dyke modeled don’t know the answer; that makes it
interests outside work, and are excited by the importance of those behaviors. He clear that it’s OK to be guided by curiosity.
learning opportunities. also highlighted the fact that when we Patricia Fili-Krushel told me that when she
It’s also important to remember that are exploring new terrain, listening is as joined WebMD Health as chief executive,
the questions candidates ask—not just important as talking: It helps us fill gaps she met with a group of male engineers
the answers they provide—can signal in our knowledge and identify other in Silicon Valley. They were doubtful that
curiosity. For instance, people who want questions to investigate. she could add value to their work and,
to know about aspects of the organization That may seem intuitive, but my right off the bat, asked what she knew
that aren’t directly related to the job at research shows that we often prefer to about engineering. Without hesitation,
hand probably have more natural curiosity talk rather than to listen with curiosity. Fili-Krushel made a zero with her fingers.
than people who ask only about the role For instance, when I asked some 230 “This is how much I know about
they would perform. high-level leaders in executive education engineering,” she told them. “However,
2 with an organizational crisis stemming hoping you can teach me what I need to
I do know how to run businesses, and I’m
classes what they would do if confronted
from both financial and cultural issues,
know about your world.” When leaders
concede that they don’t have the answer
most said they would take action: move to
to a question, they show that they value
stop the financial bleeding and introduce
Model inquisitiveness. initiatives to refresh the culture. Only a the process of looking for answers and
motivate others to explore as well.
few said they would ask questions rather
Leaders can encourage curiosity through- than simply impose their ideas on others. New hires at Pixar Animation Studios
out their organizations by being inquisi- Management books commonly encourage are often hesitant to question the status
tive themselves. In 2000, when Greg Dyke leaders assuming new positions to quo, given the company’s track rec ord of hit
had been named director general of the communicate their vision from the start movies and the brilliant work of those who
BBC but hadn’t yet assumed the position, rather than ask employees how they can have been there for years. To combat that
he spent five months visiting the BBC’s be most helpful. It’s bad advice. tendency, Ed Catmull, the cofounder and

SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2018 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW 53