Curiosity is Infinitely Scalable
Dispatch 014
Me: “I think you have ability to be the successor for your Sr Director, and he agrees.”
Him: “I don’t think that’s possible, I don’t know enough”
Me: “You have worked in every part of the department for over 10 years and built half the processes. What else could you need to know?”
Him: “I’m not as smart as he is. He always knows exactly what the team needs and what the right answer is to basically everything. I just can’t fill his shoes”
As a VP this conversation was surprising and frustrating to me. I never considered that a leader of ~100 member global team should know all the answers. Somehow though, that became an unstated expectation. Having a leader of almost 20 years in the same function had certainly left the perception. Knowing had become the bar for leaders.
This is monumental problem.
Knowing isn’t scaleable.
Knowing isn't transferable.
Knowing is antiquated.
The world is changing. Technology is moving quickly. AI can “know” everything, but understand very little. Knowing isn’t the necessary skill for Great Leaders, genuine curiosity that facilitate insight is what sets their performance apart.
"Great Leaders don't have all the answers, they have the curiosity to keep asking the right questions." Frances Frei
The Scalability of Curiosity
Knowing is a limited resource and AI is replacing it faster than a Ford GT at Le Mans.
Knowing all the answers is finite, fixed, and quickly becoming obsolete.
Curiosity, however, is renewable, expansive, and infinitely scalable. Shifting from being the answer provider to an insight facilitator, unlocks the collective intelligence beyond you individual capacity. Curiosity taps into the team.
The Best Leaders are insatiably curious; they seek to understand before being understood. Simon Sinek
You’ve Been Trained to Know
Be warned - Knowing is addictive. For most of your life knowing has been rewarded:
Toddlers are asked what animal sounds they know; then they are rewarded with smiles & laughs as they moo & oink.
Traditional schools focus on providing the right (eg correct) answers; often punishing a questioning mindset.
New entrants to the workforce aren’t generally given the latitude to probe or inquire. Instead they are expected to provide the requested responses and work.
Transitioning away from decades of this conditioning will require your determined focus. Abandoning the dopamine rush of knowing the right answers won’t be easy. Great Leaders embrace that their differentiated value comes from facilitating a team of insightful humans.
Scale Up Practically
The greatest benefit of genuine curiosity is that it doesn’t require knowing every single fact, figure, or detail. You can’t do that. No one can do that. Genuine curiosity is a mindset that is always open to learn just a little bit more, understand a little better, and fit the pieces together just a bit more easily.
This flexibility means its a skill that is infinitely transferable & scalable once you master the practicality of being consistently curious everyday. Here are my tips:
1. Ask Better Questions
- Replace declarative statements with genuine inquiries
- Use open-ended questions that invite deeper consideration
- Challenge assumptions by asking "What would you do without any constraints?”
2. Beyond Quantitative Metrics
- Dive into qualitative insights over quantitative inspection
- Explore the "how" and "why" behind the numbers
- Get more curious about processes than outcomes
3. Learning as a Leadership Strategy
- Create psychological safety for team members to share insights
- Celebrate learning over immediate perfection
- Treat each challenge as an opportunity for growth
The Bottom Line
Sustainable growth isn't about having all the answers. It's about cultivating an organizational culture of genuine curiosity. Leaders who ask, explore, and remain open to unexpected insights don't just solve problems—they create environments where innovation thrives.
Leadership isn't about knowing everything. It's about having the courage to keep asking, keep learning, and keep growing.
The future belongs to the curious. Leaders who question the status quo pave the way for innovation James Cameron
Leader Resources
When Spencer Cox was the Lieutenant Governor of Utah he made a groundbreaking proposal to his political opponent - that they film an ad TOGETHER. Perhaps even more surprising, his opponent agreed.
That unlikely agreement led to governors & their opponents in at least 20 states filming similarly together. In his TED Talk Spencer shares more about what led him to that offer, and the change he hopes to see in the world.
Just The Tip
Serve Others, and Do Good
1,800 years go Aristotle defined the essence of life as "Serve others, and do good." In a world defined by competition, social media fakery, and self serving faux leadership take steps to separate yourself from the rest of the pack.
Live up to Aristotle's ideal, serve others.
Not to earn more.
Not to gain influence.
Not to benefit yourself.
Just find subtle, simple ways to serve others. It'll change your days and impact your life. There are enough Leaders who are constantly pushing for more from their team.
Be the Leader that does more for your team.
Thanks for reading. Next week's dispatch is going to deep dive into the miracle of NASA. Putting a man on the moon was pretty awesome, but the science wasn't really the hard.
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Keep Learning, Leading & Growing -
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Adam Malone 📬
The Sometimes Tenacious Founder
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