In the first episode of season 3 of the Curious Cult, I am thrilled to chat with Mike Scott about why curiosity can be difficult but how it can help you evolve, why design by committee is bad but consensus can work and a whole bunch of other exciting topics. 

Mike is the co-founder of NONA, a firm which builds intuitive software for companies across the world. Mike believes strongly in habit-optimisation and is obsessed with learning and consuming knowledge. 

Key take aways from the episode:

• Lesson-learning in business happens through the process
  Through the process of building, starting and exiting a business as a teenager, Mike learnt a lot of lessons, met a lot of incredible people (who he’s working with now), made a lot of mistakes and developed the skills to continue building businesses.

• Integration over work-life balance
  NONA is now trying to create the best place for people to work in and they’re striving to create a place where life is not all about work. They’re trying to create a place where it’s not about finding that work-life balance, but integration is more important and more sustainable.
  The world is filled with business. All we do is work work work.

• Businesses have their own value beyond the revenue they generate
  As a young entrepreneur, Mike realising that companies can have their own value - and not just the profit that’s made through operations. Realising this is a game-changer in the way businesses are run.

• Be wary of someone who asks for trust

• Curiosity goes against the grain of simply believing something. It goes with analysing, learning and exploring something to find out more information to make an opinion of it first.

• Don’t take advice from someone not being bold with their lives

• When you start working on yourself, when you start evolving and growing, you are going to go through the pain
  Whether it’s the loss of friends, family, partners. Self-work comes at the sacrifice on things because it warrants change and inspiration.

• Feedback leads to possible challenge, but also necessary to make the best decisions
  At NONA, one of the fundamental messages is for people to speak up if there’s a problem with a decision. The culture comes with a lot of difficulties (especially related to ego), but it positions the business as one where the best possible outcomes come from the best possible people. 

For more information or to chat with Mike, find him on LinkedIn or check out NONA. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it far and wide and let’s start changing the world with curiosity.