Let's Find Out

​Back in in June, Jeff Hoffman, a keynote speaker at the Business as an Agent of World Benefit Forum and Co-founder of Priceline.com, gave a piece of advice I hadn’t heard before: “Take a five-year-old to work,” Hoffman said, “because five-year-olds constantly and relentlessly ask why?” Kids ask honest questions. They examine the world because everything fascinates them—common things, unrecognizable things, ways of doing things, ideas they don’t quite grasp, all things. Voracious curiosity means five-year-olds pommel you with unstoppable questions. Honest questions. Questions that make you wonder. Wonderment drives innovation or, as author Elizabeth Gilbert states, “creativity is the natural byproduct of a curiosity-driven life.” So, take a five-year-old to work and listen to her questions. She’ll challenge your knowledge (and try your patience). But if you want to unleash adaptive innovation, your best response might be, “Great questions. Let’s find out.”