Thomas Edison once visited Luther Burbank, the famed horticulturist, who invited every guest who visited his home to sign the guest book. Each line in the book had a space for the guest's name, address and special interests. When Edison signed the book, in the space marked "Interested in," Edison wrote: "Everything!"
Edison, who was awarded more than 1,000 patents, was a prime example of curiosity. He said, "The ideas I use are mostly the ideas of other people who don't develop them themselves."
That was an understatement. In his lifetime, Edison invented the incandescent light, the phonograph, the hideaway bed, wax paper, underground electrical wires, an electric railway car, the light socket and light switch, a method for making synthetic rubber from goldenrod plants and the motion picture camera. He also founded the first electric company. Edison refused to let his curiosity be stifled.
"Ideas are somewhat like babies," said the late management guru Peter Drucker. "They are born small, immature and shapeless. They are promise rather than fulfillment. The creative manager asks, 'What would be needed to make this embryonic, half-baked, foolish idea into something that makes sense, that is feasible, that is an opportunity for us?' "
I like that thinking. It validates all my little scraps of paper and two-word dictations, among them my best ideas in infant form. Developing them and watching them grow, seeing where they go from a seed — and seeing what other bright ideas grow along with them — that's what gets my creative juices flowing.
"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity," goes an old saying. It's pure genius, in my opinion.
Curiosity is a hunger to explore and a delight in discovery. When we are curious, we approach the world with a childlike habit of poking, prodding and asking questions. We are attracted to new experiences. Rather than pursuing an agenda or a desired set of answers, we follow our questions where they lead.
Socially, curiosity lets us really listen to other people because we want to know who they are. We open ourselves to the knowledge and experience they can share with us. We relish having discoveries of our own to share.
