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Here is a quote attributed to the Exploratorium:

“Tinkering is what happens when you try something you don’t quite know how to do, guided by whim, imagination, and curiosity. When you tinker, there are no instructions—but there are also no failures, no right or wrong ways of doing things. It’s about figuring out how things work and reworking them. Contraptions, machines, wildly mismatched objects working in harmony—this is the stuff of tinkering. Tinkering is, at is most basic, a process that marries play and inquiry.”

Tinkering is sign of curiosity and inner drive. If you love to tinker, a “no questions asked” portion of your budget (time and money) should be set aside for tinkering.

If you don’t have inner drive, or you work for a company that does not permit it, then you won’t be tinkering. Saying that your boss won’t allow it is a cop out. “Tinkering” is a state of mind. If you don’t have that urge, then you likely don’t have inner drive.

I’m afraid I do not know how to foster curiosity in people who are inherently not curious. Most theories of motivating humans work only if there is something to motivate in the first place. Tinkering to find out how to motivate your co-worker may be fun for a while, but it quickly becomes a drain, emotionally and financially. In such cases, I can only hope you have the option to trade that person. If you don’t have inner drive, it is likely your co-workers are looking for ways to trade you. You have been warned!