Why Some People Excel Far Beyond Others: The Relentless Drive Of Curiosity.

David Hanson Pres. H2M dave@h2m.biz By David Hanson, Pres. H2M Posted 12/19/2010 It wasn’t that long ago in America that if you wanted to learn something about something you had to look it up in published and often outdated books such as the Encyclopedia (if your household was affluent enough to own a set), or you had to go to the library. There was no “online” resource to “Google” or “Bing” an inquiry that would result in thousands if not millions of replies within seconds. Online resources today are superb, but even they cannot reach to the same depths of understanding and completeness that actually reading a complete book about a subject can reach. The Internet is terrific for quick bursts of information and various people’s opinions on things, but nothing comes close to the depth of subject matter that has been codified in a book. In most cases, because a book has taken a lot longer to create and format, will contain better thought-out material, tempered with various other views tied in to a complete overview great depth and clarity. And now to cut to the chase: In every organization there are people who excel at their jobs. There is something about them that is so vibrant, so engaging and so infectious that they attract success to themselves in a measure far beyond their peers without any seeming effort. I attribute this to a passionate curiosity. These are the ones who are never satisfied to rest on what they learned in school (often years ago) but consistently seek out not only the latest issues concerning their chosen field, but also the field the customers they serve. It astounds me how few times I find someone who has actually bothered to read about their customers business from available businesses trade information both online and offline. It’s as if once they graduated from school, they feel they have learned everything they need to know to have a successful career. I attribute a lot of this mindset to our educational system, which often promotes rote learning and grades over curiosity and passion. I receive many resumes from self-described young copywriters who can write but have no conception of how business works. They can string language together and utilize the correct syntax but have no solid conceptual framework that relates to the customer’s business upon which to hang their words. It is simply technique without understanding. Their work sounds like advertising, which is anathema to the whole endeavor. In short, they are not curious people. They, even at their young age, are already resting on the laurels of their past education. In this time of exploding knowledge and interconnectivity we live in can teach us anything, it is that today's learning of facts and techniques becomes obsolete almost before we can put them in to practice. And so in my experience over the years as both an employee and employer, I have learned it is the curious ones are the ones that excel. They excel because their curiosity betrays a deeper excitement and passion about the work they do. I know the journeyman type of work I’ll get from those who never keep pace with their customers businesses and their own craft. And I also know to expect the exciting surprises I’ll receive from the “curious ones” who consistently wonder how things work and how to make them work better. These are the ones that don’t need to be told to continue to learn about their craft and their custonmers. These are the ones that will grow into any challenge that comes their way. These are ones who will succeed beyond their wildest dreams.