Curiosity is the gateway to the future

By Eng. Delight Makotose

Curiosity killed the cat, did it or it made the cat have nine lives? Let’s delve into why curious leaders have changed the world and why curiosity in leadership is a trait that every leader should have.

Like him or hate him, Andrew Ross Sorkin brought and interviewed, one gentleman whose name will remain etched in the books of transformative and disruptive technological era in the world, Elon Musk. What captivated me in this whole discussion was not about advertising on X but what drives the gentleman to achieve. His far reaching and Meta sight really tickled me to pen on one Leadership characteristics which most leaders lack. CURIOSITY.

Below is a cropping from Andrew`s weekly blog. During the Deal Book summit of the 30/11/ 2023.

DealBook Summit, few could predict what Elon Musk — whose SpaceX, Tesla and X are among the most consequential and talked- about companies in the world — would say. And the famously voluble billionaire delivered.

“Do you want the best car, or do you not want the best
car?” Whether people love Musk or hate him, the mogul boasted about the capabilities of Tesla vehicles and SpaceX rockets.

“A philosophy of curiosity.” Pressed on what drives him, Musk turned contemplative, speaking at length about a difficult childhood and how he has grappled with an existential crisis he first felt at age 12. His answer: Ensure humanity reaches the stars and settles other planets, hence his work at SpaceX. “If you’re a single-planet civilization,” he said, “something will happen to that planet, and you will die.”

“I’m quite concerned that there’s some dangerous element of A.I. that they’ve discovered.” Asked about the recent leadership shake-up at OpenAI, which he co-founded before leaving in 2019, Musk said that he was worried about the speed at which it had been pushing innovation.

He predicted that the technology could reach the point of problem- solving like the human brain — so-called artificial general intelligence — in less than three years. (Jensen Huang, the C.E.O. of the A.I. chipmaker Nvidia, reckoned that milestone would take at least a decade.)

Critically his innovation and innovativeness is driven by Curiosity.

Closer home, I watched an interview conducted by Vusi Thembekwayo  as he interacted with the owner of Pick and Pay, Mr. Raymond Ackerman. Vusi asked why that Pick and Pay used to do well whilst Mr. Raymond Ackerman, was at the helm in the C – Suite. It’s quite an intriguing reply he got. “I spend a day every week talking to the customers and staffers” Through this curiosity, Mr. Ackerman got the real time feed back.

Real leaders are not nearly as concerned with the status quo (stasis) as they are with betterment (change). Since the dawn of time, leaders who understand curiosity is the gateway to the future have shaped the world.

Curiosity helps frame vision, advances learning, fuels passion, and drives innovation. Curiosity often inspires the courage to discuss the un-discussable, challenge current thinking, deviate from behaviors accepted as normal, and to do what others previously thought impossible. Curiosity drives the notion of “Thinking Outside The Box.”

By the way, smart leaders realize the plausibility of impossibility only becomes a probability with the disappearance of leadership and real leadership demands curiosity.

This article is a precursor to a series we are now exploring on the interesting subject about Curiosity and Leadership. In our next instalment, we will zoom in on why Leaders should be curious enough to answer some questions about self.

•       Engineer Delight Makotose is the Director of SMEs International Expo. For Feedback you can send an email to demakotose@gmail.com.