06/16/2025

How Smart Leaders Balance Urgency with Curiosity

The secret is ‘strategic speed bumps’

Modern business operates under a dangerous paradox. The same forces that make curiosity essential—rapid change, complexity and uncertainty—are the ones that systematically suppress it. While organizations desperately need the innovation and adaptability that come from asking better questions, the relentless pressure for speed creates an environment where curiosity dies.

Pressure Points

This isn’t theoretical. The consequences play out in boardrooms and headlines daily. Three pressure points consistently strangle organizational curiosity:

Always-On Urgency transforms work into endless reaction cycles.Volkswagen’s emissions scandal emerged when employees, under pressure to quickly meet environmental regulations, defaulted to shortcuts rather than pausing to ask whether their approach was ethical or sustainable. The constant demand for immediate responses eliminates space for the fundamental question: "Is this the right approach?"

Please select this link to read the complete article from Fast Company.