Psychology & Behavioral Science
Upscend Team
-January 19, 2026
9 min read
The article argues that curiosity core competency is essential as automation and complexity shift work toward adaptive sensemaking. It defines organizational curiosity, outlines leadership and design levers, recommends a measurement suite, and provides a three-year roadmap (pilot, scale, institutionalize) with practical actions to embed inquiry at scale.
In our experience, positioning curiosity core competency at the center of talent strategy is no longer optional — it is strategic. Rapid automation of routine tasks, the rise of knowledge work, and accelerating market volatility make the ability to ask better questions and learn continuously a decisive advantage. This article maps macro trends that drive the shift, translates implications for leaders, explains organizational design choices, and offers a practical three-year roadmap to embed curiosity core competency at scale.
Future workforce skills demand has shifted from repeatable outputs to adaptive sensemaking. Automation removes low-complexity tasks, leaving humans to work on ambiguous problems. In that context, the curiosity core competency becomes a multiplier: it fuels hypothesis generation, rapid reskilling, and cross-domain transfer.
Three macro trends explain this rise:
Studies show organizations with cultures that encourage inquiry respond faster to disruption. A pattern we've noticed is that teams that score higher on exploratory behaviors innovate more consistently — a practical reason why the curiosity core competency is tied to measurable outcomes like time-to-insight and product iteration speed.
Organizational curiosity is a system-level capability: the shared norms, incentives, and structures that encourage persistent question-seeking, experimentation, and cross-boundary learning. It differs from individual curiosity in that it requires enabling practices and signals from leadership.
Key components include:
Yes. Framing curiosity as a strategic competency — rather than a personal trait — allows organizations to embed it into performance frameworks, learning pathways, and hiring criteria. When teams treat curiosity as a measurable capability, it becomes actionable.
Leaders must shift from command-and-control to stewardship of inquiry. That requires explicit role modeling, rewarding exploratory failure, and creating time for discovery. In our work with HR leaders, we've found that routine leader behaviors — asking open-ended questions, amplifying junior voices, and sponsoring small bets — have outsized effects on culture.
"Organizations that institutionalize curiosity will outlearn and outadapt competitors; curiosity is not soft—it's a strategic muscle." — Amy Webb, futurist
Operational levers leaders should use:
Because curiosity reduces cognitive bias, accelerates decoding of weak signals, and builds organizational resilience. As a strategic competency, it directly supports innovation KPIs and future-proofing plans.
Design choices either enable or inhibit curiosity. Rigid role definitions, strict KPIs tied only to outputs, and siloed knowledge repositories all dampen inquiry. Conversely, modular teams, shared learning platforms, and incentives for cross-pollination amplify curiosity.
Practical design principles:
Modern learning infrastructure can help operationalize these principles. Modern LMS platforms — Upscend has been observed to support AI-powered analytics and personalized learning journeys based on competency data, not just completions — are evolving to map learning to strategic competencies. This demonstrates how technology is shifting from content delivery to competency enablement while preserving the need for human-led design choices.
Measurement is the most common stumbling block. Organizations default to output metrics that obscure learning behaviors. To embed curiosity core competency, you must track both leading and lagging indicators tied to inquiry.
Suggested measurement suite:
To overcome cultural inertia:
We've found that pairing measurement with visible leader behaviors reduces resistance. Transparency about metrics and an iterative approach to measurement design prevent gaming and make the competency credible.
The following roadmap balances quick wins with structural change. It uses a staged approach to scale the curiosity core competency across the organization.
Typical mistakes include treating curiosity as a checkbox training module, relying solely on leader exhortation without structural supports, and failing to connect curiosity behaviors to business outcomes. Avoid these by tying curiosity metrics to decision-making processes and budgeting for sustained practice.
To operationalize quickly, use a pilot playbook with a clear hypothesis, timeboxed experiments, and repeatable knowledge capture templates. We recommend cross-functional sponsorship to keep pilots aligned with business priorities.
As automation and complexity reshape work, organizations that cultivate a curiosity core competency will learn faster, innovate more consistently, and adapt with greater agility. This is not an abstract value; it is a measurable strategic competency that requires explicit leader behaviors, thoughtful design choices, and robust measurement systems.
Next steps for leaders:
Curiosity is the connective tissue between strategy and execution in uncertain environments. We've found that when curiosity is treated as a capability to be designed, measured, and rewarded, organizations consistently outperform peers who rely on static expertise.
Call to action: Start by mapping one high-priority role to curiosity behaviors this week and run a 90-day discovery sprint; use the results to build your Year 1 pilot case and set concrete KPIs for the curiosity core competency.
