“Curiosity is the engine of achievement.”

“Curiosity is the engine of achievement.”

--Ken Robinson.

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How's your curiosity? I'll be you've got more than you reckon. Let me ask a few questions and you keep track:

1. How often do you look at your watch/phone/computer/other device to check the time? More than once an hour?

2. Do you watch the TV news regularly? Weather?

3. Do you enjoy Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune on TV?

4. Do you read a newspaper regularly?

5. Do you read anything regularly?

If you answered yes to any three of these questions, I'm here to say--I think you have a good sense of curiosity.

Now for the real question: are you curious about things that matter? Truly matter, to you and your family and your friends? Things that aren't fads, celebs, media-driven, or trivia, but instead are do you want to know more about big issues, about trends that may last for years or decades? About issues that effect your quality of life now and for the rest of your life? About the hereafter?

I think of those scientific minds of yesteryear: Ben Franklin, Kekule, Copernicus, Isaac Newton...never satisfied with the status quo. Closer to our times: Watson and Crick, Robert Goddard, Steve Jobs and his ilk...nobody could convince them, "Everything worthwhile is known/invented"!

Is your curiosity well-invested? Poking yer nose into stuff best left unpoked?

Just some suggestions...I know that I'm often curious about mere or mostly trivia, so these questions are as much for me as for ye!

I think curiosity is indeed the engine of achievement and of creativity. And, like any engine, it can be well-cared for, retuned, rebuilt...and with certain tools and add-ons, a whole lot more horsepower can be elicited.

What revs up your curiosity? Vroom-vroom!

Creativity--in education, and in you and me.

I feel like a late bloomer in the garden of creativity. How much of my creative spark was quenched by, "Let's draw a flower--here's how to do it...No, no, Jamie, flowers aren't those colors...or, ahem, shapes. See how Billy did it--they look just like the one that I drew."

In public school, I wrote many more book reports than I did stories...granted, reading is a deep foundation for learning and for writing, but there was a huge over-emphasis on reporting and underemphasis on creating.

My niece, Shaelin, just told me about this guy:

Ken Robinson, If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.

• Watch this talk »

Watch it. It's 19 minutes long, funny, and convicting!

[It's a choppy post today...but, that's the story, morning glory!]