Lack of Curiosity.

‘In hindsight, it looks like a lack of curiosity.’

-Kathryn Campbell, Secretary of the Department of Human Services, explaining how the Department came to operate the unlawful robodebt scheme.

‘[We are] concerned that there has been a sustained lack of curiosity and action from Defence [to using data to inform suicide prevention measures].’

-Interim Report of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.

‘The Inquiry report indicates that while there is no indicator of knowledge or intent to contribute to alleged unlawful behaviours … that there’s a responsibility to know, to be curious to understand what is going on in your organisation.’

-General Angus Campbell, Chief of the Defence Force, responding to questions why senior officers didn’t know about war crimes.

Good decision making in three words:

Be attentively curious.

(Why ‘attentively’? It adds a level of intention and attention and process.)

Bad things routinely happen because good and competent people were not curious. They didn’t think or ask ‘Why are you doing this?’ ‘What made that happen?’ ‘What did you learn from that?’ Good and competent people will, by default, accept things on face value.

Which is why we must direct good and competent people to Be Attentively Curious.

The wonderful thing about curiosity is it doesn’t require expertise or positional power or inclusion in your job description, or permission.

Asking at every level - ‘Help me to understand’ is often all it takes to prevent harm.

Even if you think do understand - it’s interesting to ask someone else their understanding. To ask them to talk you through their understanding.

If good and competent people know that at least one superior or subordinate may randomly ask ‘Help me to understand…’ they are more likely to pay attention to their decision making, and the decision making of those who report to them.

If they know they may be asked to explain their decision, they may adopt a conscious process such as the Five Steps to a Good Decision so they can show their working out, if asked. They are less likely to rely on positional power, or cronyism, or justify their inaction after an event with ‘I didn’t know …’.

We may not be a decision maker. But if an organisation makes it part of its culture to ask ‘Help me to understand …’ we support those who make decisions, and those who report to them. We become dozens or hundreds or thousands of random auditors of our organisation.

Our curiosity helps others to be curious.

Three words to transform any organisation:

Be attentively curious.