Dealing with Strategy is not easy; in fact, it is perhaps one of the most challenging tasks for leaders who must lead their teams.
One because strategy is always wrong until the numbers prove otherwise. That’s why you need a strategy management system made of solid tools and real-time numerical management of objectives: MAKE PROGRESS is an option.
Two, because strategy is the one asset you can’t buy outside the company. Would you entrust the growth of your company to someone who has never been in your business, someone who doesn’t know your business model, the resources at your disposal, and the skills of your people? That’s my point. I talked about it here.
But let’s say you’ve been working on the new strategy by investing hours in slides, gantt, and spreadsheets–you finally feel ready for the rollout…
And yet … you have to pull people by the jacket to participate in yet another meeting-monologue in which everyone will pretend to listen while they sort out pending emails or put out fires on Slack.
You ask for feedback and only get “all clear” as a response for fear that the meeting will start again.
And that after 3 weeks, even if you shared a private Google Drive link to figure out who had access, you don’t get any permission requests.
How come no one is interested in strategy?
Having a strategy is just the beginning of a path of behavioral change that can be managed by understanding the basics of how our brains work and adopting this simple framework.
Would you expect at least one of your staff members to come to you and ask, “I would like to understand this aspect of the strategy better?” Instead: silence.
If the strategy you are presenting follows the pattern let’s increase results here, reduce costs here you cannot hope otherwise.
While these are necessary measures, you need to include one key ingredient: curiosity.
Attracting teams to strategy with curiosity
The brightest people in life and work are curious.
In fact, curiosity is the ingredient that turns a piece of information that would go unnoticed into an obsession. And when we are obsessed with something we push ourselves beyond our limits.
Scientific studies show that curiosity is the primary driver for learning. Scientists are also convinced that there is not just one type of curiosity but several different types that we can use to our advantage to
1. catalyze attention
2. accelerate learning
3. improve information retention
4. supporting behavioral change
Here’s how to incorporate curiosity into your strategy before it ends up in the oblivion of corporate paperwork.
3 types of curiosities that work like a magnet
Curiosity works like a magnet. It is a psychological phenomenon that manifests itself in several forms, each with a significant impact on behavioral development.
There are three kinds of curiosities:
Epistemic curiosity that stimulates the search for knowledge.
Empathic curiosity that fosters interpersonal understanding.
Diversionary curiosity, pushing toward exploration and innovation.
How to incorporate epistemic curiosity into strategy
Epistemic curiosity represents the innate desire to gain new knowledge and understand in a deep way how things work.
In a corporate environment, this form of curiosity stimulates a desire to learn and better understand both the inner workings of the organization and the dynamics of the market.
It is what drives people to do research, to launch experiments, to interview clients, to feel that burning desire to explain why things are going a certain way. This attitude is what drives people to increase their skills over the course of a lifetime.
It is really impossible for teams to suggest improvements to a mechanism they do not know about. That’s why you might be disappointed with their suggestions. It is not their talent that is lacking, but their understanding of the system.
A strategy that encourages epistemic curiosity is not limited to the mere distribution of tasks, but pushes employees to ask questions, to seek answers to understand how they work in order to contribute.
Epistemic curiosity positively affects decision making. When leaders and their teams deepen their understanding of problems, explore different perspectives, and gain broader knowledge, decisions become more informed and strategic. This approach reduces the risk of hasty decisions or decisions based on incorrect assumptions and leads to more innovative and sustainable choices. For example, in companies like Pixar, where curiosity and creativity are at the core of the corporate culture, the ability to explore new ideas has led to original solutions and remarkable successes.
How to incorporate epistemic curiosity into strategy? Instead of stuffing presentations with definitive answers and tasks sorted with annoying precision, focus on showing the workings of various phenomena such as growth, competition, and representation of the ecosystem in which you operate.
This is why the Growth Machine Workshop is so effective: it allows you to see how the company works and to look under the hood to find out how the engine works and understand how each gear works.
PS: There is a session scheduled on March 18 at 12 noon if you were interested.
How to incorporate empathic curiosity into the strategy
Empathic curiosity represents the desire to connect with others to understand them.
It is what drives the most sensitive people to ask others’ opinions, to understand their neighbor’s state of mind or the motivations behind specific behaviors.
An example of this curiosity is the consumption of content such as articles or documentaries that tell about other lifestyles. Understanding others satisfies our need to form connections.
In business, this form of curiosity prompts teams to take an interest in others’ work, motivations, and the level of emotionality with which decisions are made or work is prioritized.
This form of curiosity allows leaders to better perceive the needs and feelings of team members, helping to create a more harmonious and productive work environment. A prime example is Starbucks’ leadership model. Their strategy is based on a people-centered approach, where understanding the needs of employees and customers is key. This empathetic orientation not only improves internal morale but also results in an exceptional customer experience.
How to incorporate empathic curiosity into strategy? By abandoning the notion that there is no single monolithic strategy in favor of the concept of orchestrating different micro-strategies: to do so, one must understand how other teams work.
At MAKE PROGRESS we use a tool called Now & Next that allows us to clearly map out what behavioral change is required to execute the strategy. And at this time all teams are invited to understand each other and request or offer support. It is an enlightening moment in the entire program.
How to incorporate diversionary curiosity into the strategy
This kind of curiosity drives the search for novelty and the exploration of unexplored paths, which are fundamental to stimulating creative thinking and innovation. Diversionary curiosity is a key driving force in innovation and business strategy.
It is what drives us to change. It is not true that people do not want to change. People live for change. Think about how many have changed jobs, cars, cities, diets, or partners in the past 6 months.
The truth is that people are afraid of not making progress as they change. Therefore, the task of leaders is to create a safe environment for change. I am not talking about psychological safety-very complicated to achieve-but operational safety: a healthy corporate culture can only arise from a healthy company.
Organizations like Apple have excelled at this, creating a corporate culture where out-of-the-box thinking is not only accepted, but actively encouraged. This approach allows innovative solutions to be identified and market trends to be anticipated, keeping the company at the forefront of its industry.
It is critical to identify and overcome barriers to diversionary curiosity. For example, it is helpful to reduce the fear of failure and the foster an environment where mistakes are seen as learning opportunities. A growth mindset, where the learning process is valued beyond the immediate outcome, is crucial to maintaining a steady flow of innovative ideas.
How to incorporate diversionary curiosity into the strategy? Setting the targets correctly and documenting the strategy.
Setting targets is an art. If too low they do not stimulate growth, and not reaching them would endanger teams. If too high, on the other hand, they could be a source of frustration. At MAKE PROGRESS we have developed a concept called Committed Growth that helps protect teams from failure while still stretching their results. Here you will find an example that allows sales goals and OKRs to coexist.
Documenting the strategy will make you turn every check-in into the most effective corporate training moment where everyone can learn from what happened. To do this, in the OKR Toolkit at STRTGY, you have a technique for doing check-ins called What/So What/Now What and the tool for removing Roadblocks. Both are outstanding in creating a shared log of what works and what doesn’t, transferring autonomy and agility to teams.
Without Curiosity, Strategy is just a boring list of tasks
If you found this article interesting I suggest you read on:
- There is no one grand Strategy, there are many Micro-Strategies
- The framework for change and how to implement it
- How to increase sales by 47.89% with OKRs
- B.U.D.G.E.T. Why it doesn’t work
When you are ready, choose a time from my calendar to see all the tools of MAKE PROGRESS in action, applied to your business.
ALWAYS MAKE PROGRESS ⤴
-Antonio
