Constantine Andriopoulos is a Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Bayes Business School, in City, University of London, and the Director of Avyssos Advisors, an innovation management consultancy.

Below, Constantine shares 5 key insights from his new book, Purposeful Curiosity: The Power of Asking the Right Questions at the Right Time. Listen to the audio version—read by Constantine himself—in the Next Big Idea App.

1. Uncover your itch and turn it into a project.

On November 20, 2020, Rocket Lab, a leading California-based aerospace manufacturer, launched its Electron rocket, a small reusable rocket. The launch was the brainchild of Peter Beck, an engineer from New Zealand and the founder and CEO of Rocket Lab. Beck’s itch was to figure out a cheaper way to get things into orbit. To do so, he had to figure out ways to bring down the cost of his rockets. While NASA’s rockets can cost up to $1.6 billion to launch, each Rocket Lab small-satellite low-orbit launch, costs about $5 million.

Beck’s fascination with rockets started at a young age. As a teenager, he became curious as to whether he could build one. He started by reading as much as he could about the subject and then began to experiment with different designs in his garden shed. At the age of 18, he strapped a rocket engine to the back of a custom-made bicycle and…