The upside of a frustrated employee is that they often voice opinions that result in positive change. But a bored employee? They can be unmotivated and uninspired to produce innovative work.
Preventing stagnation leads NYC leaders in tech to look for new ways to inspire curiosity in their teams. Leadership development programs, volunteering and even impromptu mural-painting sessions are all opportunities for employees to interact across departments, bounce new ideas off colleagues and develop their professional careers.
Inquisitiveness and a desire to do more can look different from business to business. Leaders take different approaches to fostering curiosity within their teams based on the company mission, core values and the wellbeing of their employees. We asked four NYC leaders in tech how they do it.
Skillshare takes a three-pronged approach to facilitating creativity. Chief Operating Officer Sabrina Kieffer said transparency, continuous learning and flexibility all foster curiosity among employees.
How do you create a culture of curiosity?
We’ve seen how the simple act of “creating” can be a force for growth, change and discovery in people’s lives. We want to inspire and multiply the kind of creative exploration that furthers expression, learning and application. When we spend our days working to build a community around this mission, it drives our whole workplace culture. We empower our employees to be curious, make an impact and live a full life.
The more time people have away from the daily grind, the more space they have to be curious.”
What are some things you do to inspire curiosity in your team?
Three main drivers of our culture of curiosity are transparency, ongoing learning and flexibility. We place a large emphasis on transparency by sharing as much information about our strategic plans and business health with the team as possible and creating a framework where feedback is given and received regularly. This openness has allowed us to champion consistent learning, knowing that we all have room for growth.
We encourage employees to immerse themselves in the Skillshare product and to take advantage of our learning and conference stipend. And we partner with experts on learning and development initiatives to equip our team with skills and tools to prepare them for a successful future.
Finally, we realize growth is inspired in many ways, which is why we’ve built a flexible work culture that allows employees to pursue their interests and passions outside of work, including unlimited vacation, work-from-home Tuesdays, remote work month, paid sabbaticals, and gender-neutral parental leave policies. We believe that the more time people have away from the daily grind, the more space they have to be curious, innovative and productive.
An individual’s peers can be a great source of inspiration. Team Engagement Manager Apryl Connolly pushes teams at Spruce to connect and collaborate often. Committees and events help make those collaborations happen, and in one instance, even led to an impromptu mural-painting sessions soundtracked by Mr. Ziggy Stardust.
How do you create a culture of curiosity?
Curiosity is one of our core values and we encourage each other to not be afraid of taking a new approach. Real estate is a complex industry and finding ways to make transactions faster, frictionless and more transparent means we need to think outside of the box. As a result, curiosity is present in nearly everything we do.
When thinking about making additions to Spruce life, I’m always looking for opportunities to bring the team together to collaborate on something fun. We form committees that spur cross-functional teamwork or host events around problem-solving and collaboration.
I’m always looking for opportunities to bring the team together to collaborate on something fun.”
What are some things you do to inspire curiosity in your team?
When I was given the challenge of sprucing up our office for a photoshoot happening in two weeks, I was excited to work with our design team to help transform our space. Our vision was to use our brand colors to create vibrant accent walls throughout the office.
While brainstorming what we could do with a particularly large blank wall, I thought it would be great to get the whole team to paint a mural together. So, we stenciled out a geometric design pattern from our website, got our rollers and paint and hosted a mural-painting session while listening to David Bowie. The team rose to the challenge and helped make our office look incredible in record time.
Knowledge-sharing, especially across teams, helps expose employees to best practices and ways of thinking they may not have otherwise discovered. The Farmer’s Dog Co-Founder Brett Podolsky said employees inspire one another by offering insights on how the business could be moved forward. But in order for employees to feel comfortable sharing their opinions, establishing a safe environment is crucial.
How do you create a culture of curiosity?
I believe the key is to create an environment where people are held to a high standard, but also feel safe to try new things and make mistakes. As leaders, we need to build the confidence of our team members and their trust in us so that they feel the comfort and safety they need to truly be creative. We also expect that everyone at the company strives every day to be the best version of themselves, and accepts nothing less. I’ve found that the combination of pressure and creative safety tends to bring out the best in people.
Pressure and creative safety tends to bring out the best in people.”
What are some things you do to inspire curiosity in your team?
Cats may get all the credit for curiosity, but we watch our office dogs exhibit this trait daily and have baked it into our company values. We hire people who have a genuine passion for our subject matter and purpose: helping dogs live happier, healthier lives. That passion drives everyone to keep learning and seeking new ways to help dogs and the people who love them.
We also encourage teams to share knowledge across departments. There are Slack channels dedicated to surfacing ways in which we can improve all aspects of the company, for both customers and employees. We also have regular company-wide meetings reviewing our progress. Topics that emerge from these conversations also regularly become content on our blog, ideas for future products or customer service initiatives.
It’s tough to understand how to solve a challenge without first knowing why a challenge exists. This idea is what drives Chief of Staff James Gaeta and his team at Doorkee to adopt a curious attitude and chase down that “why.” The leader said it’s important that employees are given agency to experiment and explore their passions.
How do you create a culture of curiosity?
Creating a culture of curiosity means providing teams with autonomy. By giving our employees the ability to decide when and where to take certain risks, they are free to explore ideas and solutions that a more prescriptive environment would stymie. A desire to explore the unexplored would mean nothing without the freedom to do so, and the best thing we can do is give our team the opportunity to act on their curiosities.
Creating a culture of curiosity means providing teams with autonomy.”
What are some things you do to inspire curiosity in your team?
We always start with asking, “Why?” We don’t work on solutions until we’ve gotten to the root cause of a problem. The solutions our team creates when faced with a challenge are due in part to our culture based on asking “why” first. Then we refer back to our mission, vision and our company-wide key performance indicators. Starting with “why” fosters an enthusiasm for learning inherent in all our intellectually curious teammates.
