A scenario experienced in many work spaces:
Intern: Hey, any idea why the laser cutter isn't working properly?
Employee: I don't know, sorry about that (Dude walks on and goes forth in "being productive")
At IDEO, the scenarios many times look more like this:
Intern: Hey, any idea why the laser cutter isn't working properly?
Employee: I don't know, let's find out. (Dude is deeply intrigued by the issue at hand because he likes solving things, despite the amount of work he should in fact be doing.)
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is another thing about you people. There is for the most part a genuine attraction to taking things to the next level. Why? Because you care. It could be that you care less about the individual you are helping and more about that thing inside you that can't quite settle until it all makes sense again. There are a plethora of reasonings behind the origin of this innate helpfulness but that is not what matters- what matters is that you take the initiative to spend just a little more time than many others would. I have continually seen exchanges like this with the Fortnight program and it is one of the main things that makes your environment worthy of cherishing.