“Design like you’re right, test like you’re wrong.” This mantra from Andrew Clark, Head of Product Design at H&R Block, encapsulates how cultivating intense curiosity at work can drive innovation in design and business. Learn from Andrew on how you can become a more curious designer and leader. (Watch the replay.)
Get to Know Andrew Clark
Andrew Clark has an impressive career spanning design leadership roles at renowned companies, and he currently spearheads the Product Design team at H&R Block, overseeing the delivery of innovative and engaging client and associate experiences. Andrew's career has been marked by his passion for creating modern, visually bold work and building dynamic teams.
Prior to his current role, he served as Sr. Director, Global Brand Digital at Sonos, boosting the brand's online presence. With a background that includes directing design teams at Bruce Mau Design and experience designing for startups like Minimal, Andrew brings a wealth of insights and a unique perspective to the intersection of design, technology, and brand expression.
The Declining State of Curiosity at Work
While curious young children ask a torrent of questions, this instinct diminishes with age as schedules fill and asking questions becomes less socially acceptable. This has led to a noticeable decline of workplace curiosity.
Studies show only 24% of employees report feeling curious in their jobs regularly. About 70% face barriers to asking questions. This curiosity gap has profound implications. Research shows curiosity incorporates intelligence, grit and a “hunger for novelty” - all critical drivers of success.
Without curiosity, companies become complacent, defaulting to routine solutions versus pushing into uncomfortable zones ripe for innovation. Leadership should urgently cultivate curiosity or risk apathy, mediocrity and bored employees tuning out.
The Competitive Advantage of Curiosity at Work
Andrew revealed how leading brands stay competitive by nurturing organizational curiosity. During his time at Sonos, Andrew evolved the brand identity system five times in five years by taking risks on new “dangerous” ideas that challenged conventions. While uncomfortable, this experimentation was essential for growth.
Bruce Mau Design, where Andrew honed his approach, lives with an ethos that “joy is the engine of growth.” People deflate constraints with an insatiable appetite to make things better through bold experiments. Client engagements become vehicles to push the limits of what’s possible.
Andrew emulated this mindset at H&R Block, using curiosity to reimagine areas like tax prep tools, audit risk detectors, and AI integrations. Despite the complexity of tax codes, he leverages curiosity to find whitespace for better experiences.
Leading with Curious Leadership
For learning leaders seeking to spur their curiosity at work, Andrew suggests first modeling insatiable curiosity and hunger for growth so your team has the courage to follow. Here are 3 benefits you'll see as you start leading with curiosity at work:
1. Curiosity at Work Provides Psychological Safety
Teams need air cover from leadership to take risks inherent with new ideas that may fail. Framing innovation experiments as learning journeys versus pass/fail tests reduces fear. Celebrating failures publicly models that they won’t sink careers.
2. Curiosity Helps You Draw Connections Across Diverse Sources
Finding threads that spark new thinking requires going beyond familiar industry sources to areas like science, sociology and even fiction. Getting curious about topics and ideas outside of your industry can be hugely inspirational for design leadership.
3. Curiosity Helps You Prioritize Making Over Endless Analysis
While research matters, teams also need bias toward action to build momentum. Andrew pushes teams to rapidly prototype and experiment even in busy seasons, focusing on progress versus perfection.
Putting Curiosity at Work into Action
Despite curiosity being human nature, we often fight off our innate sense to explore and learn. Reignite curiosity on your team with these everyday habits:
Ask Why: Simply asking ‘why’ five times on any topic uncovers needs and drives deeper inquiry.
Explore Adjacencies: Identify one emerging technology or an industry facing similar problems and have lunch-and-learns.
Allow 20% Time: Grant permission for small weekly projects that satiate curiosity beyond core responsibilities.
As Andrew concluded, with constant change, status quo solutions lose relevance. But by championing curiosity, we enjoy the adventure of innovation, avoid complacency and uncover opportunities.
