How Curiosity Unlocks Strategy

When Amy Edmondson was a PhD student at Harvard, she set out to study how effective teamwork influenced patient safety in hospitals. Her hypothesis was simple: the best teams would make the fewest mistakes.​

But when the data came back, it showed the opposite.
​The highest-performing teams were reporting more errors.

Her first reaction? Panic. Something had to be wrong.

But then she paused. And instead of dismissing the data, she got curious. She asked a different question:

What if those teams weren’t making more mistakes but rather they were just more willing to talk about them?

That question led to one of the most important leadership discoveries of the past few decades: psychological safety. The idea that people perform better, not when they’re perfect, but when they feel safe to take risks, admit mistakes, and speak openly without fear of blame or retribution.

It’s a powerful reminder that curiosity is not a soft skill, it’s a strategic one.

In fast-moving, high-stakes, or uncertain environments, curiosity is what allows leaders to move from defensiveness to insight. From confusion to clarity. From silence to progress.

And perhaps most importantly, it’s contagious. When leaders model curiosity by asking open questions, welcoming dissent, and staying grounded in learning, they create a ripple effect. They signal that it’s okay to say, “I don’t know,” to raise concerns, to name hard things.

That’s the foundation for better decisions, deeper trust, and more innovative thinking.

So here’s something to consider: Where might curiosity serve your team right now?

And what questions could you be asking that open up learning, alignment, and growth?

Until next time, stay curious, and keep leading together.

-Shaun and Joe