Be Curious

How important do you think it is to be creative and curious - to think outside the box? 

Albert Einstein once said, 

I am neither especially clever nor especially gifted. I am only very, very curious. 

Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the 20th century's most influential and admired women. She once said this:

I think, at a child's birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift would be curiosity.  (Eleanor Roosevelt)

Does that surprise you? Is curiosity really all that important? Let's take a peek into the childhood of Steven Spielberg, the most popular filmmaker of all time. His aunt, who babysat him, observed:

From the time he was able to open his mouth his first word, I think, was ‘Why?' You just had to answer every question, and then there would be more. Most of what I remember is Steve's curiosity and inquirious (sic) nature. He was just curiouser and curiouser…. (Spielberg, p. 37,40) 

Spielberg had difficulty memorizing things and didn't make stellar grades. Yet, his curiosity and creativity made up for whatever else he lacked.  

I'm afraid that in school we often reward memorization to the exclusion of curiosity and creative thinking. Yet, it's that sense of curiosity that can make even school subjects more fun. 

This week, let's be a little more like Einstein and Spielberg, regaining that sense of wonder about the world that many of us lost during our childhoods. Let's try to develop an incurable case of curiosity that just might make your class-time more fun and your life more successful. 

Discussion Questions:

1) Why do you think Eleanor Roosevelt said, "I think, at a child's birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift would be curiosity."  (Eleanor Roosevelt)
2) How do you think that Steven Spielberg's curiosity helped him to become a creative genius?
3) How could developing our curiosity make school more bearable, even fun?
4) What kinds of things do curious people say to themselves during the day?
5) How could you exhibit more curiosity and creativity this week?

Games, Activities and Clips

We're going to do an improvisational story and need some outgoing people to participate. (Have them sit at the front of the class in a row, facing the rest of the class.) Is there anyone who'd like to do the sound effects as the story develops?

Here's how the story will go. The class will call out three things that start with the letter "A", such as ANT, AARDVARK, ALPHABET SOUP. Then, the first person will begin the story including these three elements. When I hit the bell, people in the class come up with three other story elements that begin with the letter "B." The second person continues the story using those elements. The final person has to conclude the story with whatever elements are given to him or her. The sound effects person just chimes in whenever he/she sees fit.

Debriefing: How many of you feel that you are really good at coming up with ideas on the spur of the moment? How many of you feel that you work better when given time to write down ideas throughout the day? Different ones of us exhibit creativity in different ways. Find what works best for you. 

Advertising the Weird

Divide into groups of 8 to 10. Give each group an object. Instruct them that their task will be to try to sell the object to the class for a use other than that for which it was intended. Give them an example by holding up a pencil and advertising it in this way: 

"Here's something that everybody needs. For the low, low price of $4.99 you can have your very own ear-wax removal kit! First, put a little hydrogen peroxide on the flat end. Wait five minutes and use the lead end to pick out the pieces of wax. Finally, lay the pencil on its side and carefully line up each piece of earwax on the pencil so that you have a nifty display to show off your great accomplishment to your little brother or sister." 

Give each group a couple of minutes to discuss what they want to sell their object as and how they will try to sell it to the class. Then, let each group do their presentation. 

Debriefing: In advertising, it often pays to think outside the box and be creative. If people could sell pet rocks several years ago, surely we can find ways to sell products of real value! But it takes creativity on our parts. What are some creative things you've done in the past to either solve a problem or express yourself? How can we learn to be more creative?

Getting to Know You Through Charades 

Ask for a volunteer to come forward to compete at charades. Give the person a topic, like a band band you like, a celebrity you like, a hero, a movie you like. Have them write it secretly on a sheet of paper and give it to you. Then, the person tries, with only body movements, facial expressions and hands, to get people in the class to guess what they've written. 

To get more people involved, add to the competitive spirit by giving a piece of candy to the person who guesses first. 

Debriefing: What are some ways people had to be creative to get their points across? How is this similar to our struggles in getting to know people at school? (It doesn't come naturally to get to know people in more depth. Sometimes we have to think of creative questions to ask or force ourselves into social situations that are otherwise rather uncomfortable.)

Linking Arms; Standing Together

Ask students to sit down on the floor with their knees bent front of them, feet flat on the floor and knees pointing toward the ceiling. Hands can't touch the ground. Now ask each student to try to stand up from that position (not moving feet or touching the floor with your hands). (Neither tell them to do it alone nor to do it with others. Some will probably try to cheat by putting their hands on the floor or moving their feet, so keep an eye out!)

Allow them a little time to try it. A few may be able to actually pull it off. Most will be frustrated. Now tell them there is a way that most of them can do it. Let them think and try some more. (If someone thinks of sitting down back to back with someone else, let them do it.  If not, instruct them next in how to do it. Either way, the point is made.)

Tell them how it's done: Ask each student to find a partner. Put their legs in the same position as before , siting back to back with the partner and linking arms at their elbows. Try to stand up by pushing against each other. If successful, join another successful group so that you try it as a group of four. If the four are successful, try it with eight. See which group wins. 

Debriefing: Some of us aren't as good at physical things as others, but what can this game tell us about success in life? (It's often easier to do things together than separately. Also, we must learn to think outside the box.) While someone may complain that I didn't say anything at first about that we could work together, neither did I say you had to do it individually. We tend to assume that we must do it by ourselves. Yet, in many of life's tasks, it's much easier to work work with someone else or as a team. That's why it's so important to learn to get along, respect others and creatively resolve conflicts when they come up. 

Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous. (Bill Moyers)

The great accomplishments of man have resulted from the transmission of ideas and enthusiasm. (Thomas J. Watson, Jr. of IBM)

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Success depends above all, upon people. Build relationships, teams, partnerships -- and motivate people to contribute. Cultivate leadership, creativity, excellence. Listen; seek new ideas and advice.  (Ruth Scott Pres. & CEO, Assoc. for Portland (OR) Progress)

Ask Good Questions

There are no foolish questions and no man becomes a fool until he has stopped asking questions. (Charles Steinmetz, Source: The Art of Creative Thinking - Robert Olson, 1986)

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As a schoolboy, Albert Einstein's science teacher was infuriated that he kept asking questions that they couldn't answer. Although the teacher couldn't expel Albert for asking questions, he told him that the teachers preferred that he leave the school. (Albert Einstein: Young Thinker, pp. 131ff.) 

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Adults are always asking children what they want to be when they grow up -- they're looking for ideas. (Paula Poundstone)

Gather Fresh Ideas from Others

Great leaders don't think they have all the good ideas. Instead, they humbly solicit ideas from all levels of their organizations. Steven Spielberg is the most successful movie producer in the world. He's got plenty of creative ideas and has every right to tell the actors to sit quietly and allow him to tell them what to do. Yet, listen to actress Drew Barrymore tell how Spielberg worked with her and the other children in the movie E.T. 

''Right off, I fell in love with Steven [Spielberg]. In many ways he was – and always will be – the dad I never had. I wanted so badly to be accepted by him, and when I was, it meant a lot to me. I was thrilled when he invited me to his Malibu house. We'd run along the beach, collect seashells, and build sand castles. It was so much fun to hang out with him.

But working with Steven was even better. In most of the scenes he let me do whatever I wanted. All of us were free to offer input, but he especially seemed to like the silly things the kids came up with. Like in the scene where Henry, Robert, and I are hiding E.T. in the closet from our mother, Henry tells me that only kids can see E.T. There wasn't a line to go with that, and Steven told me to just make something up. So when we did the scene again, I just shrugged and said, ''Gimme a break!''

He'd often take me aside and say something like, ''You're talking to me now. Do you really like this? Or do you have a different idea? Do you think it could be done a different way?'' Eventually I'd add something and Steven would smile and say, ''Good, let's combine ideas.'' It made me feel so good. For once I didn't feel like some stupid little kid trying to make people love me. I felt important and useful.'' (Drew Barrymore with Todd Gold, Little Girl Lost, Pocket Books: New York, 1990, p. 58)

The point? As leaders in the home and in the world, we desperately need good ideas. Also, we need to help our children and employees to feel ownership, like they're an important part of the team. To build your children's self-esteem, ask for their input. To make your employees feel good about their work, gather and reward their ideas. (Written by Steve Miller, Copyright May 6, 2002)

Meet Regularly With Others to Gather and Sharpen Ideas

As voracious reader of biographies, I've noticed a pattern in the lives of many successful people. They didn't do it alone. They sharpened their skills and kept motivated by regularly meeting with those who had similar interests. 

Twenty-two year old Albert Einstein and like-minded friends met frequently in each other's homes or talked on hikes, sometimes all the way through the night. These conversations had an enormous impact on his future work. They called themselves ''The Olympia Academy.''

Fifteen-year old Bill Gates met regularly with other computer geeks who called themselves ''The Lakeside Programmers Group.'' 

Benjamin Franklin met every Friday for decades with a diverse group of civic-minded thinkers called ''Junto.'' Many of his great accomplishments were a result of cross-pollination from this group. 

Writers J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis met with a group called ''The Inklings,'' on a weekday morning in a pub and Thursday evenings at Lewis' house, often reading their manuscripts aloud to get input. 

These successful people found that the collaboration of several minds produces more wisdom than the sum of these same minds working separately. Are you letting synergy work for you, or do you go it alone? 

Start with one meeting of people in your field, perhaps over breakfast or lunch. If you hit it off, suggest another person and another meeting. Then, let it grow from there. (Steve Miller, copyright January, 2003)

Be Curious

I want to be remembered as being curious to the end. (Warren Bennis)

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Children enter school as question marks and leave as periods. (Neil Postman)

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Curiosity is one of the most permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect. (Samuel Johnson)

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The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity. (Albert Einstein)

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I am neither especially clever nor especially gifted. I am only very, very curious. (Albert Einstein) 

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I think, at a child's birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift would be curiosity.  (Eleanor Roosevelt)

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The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.  (Ellen Parr)

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As a child, Steven Spielberg had an aunt who babysat him. Listen to her observations:

''From the time he was able to open his mouth his first word, I think, was ‘Why?' You just had to answer every question, and then there would be more. Most of what I remember is Steve's curiosity and inquirious (sic) nature. He was just curiouser and curiouser….'' (Spielberg, p. 37,40) 

Connect the Disconnected

It is the function of creative man to perceive and to connect the seemingly unconnected.  (William Plommer)

Never Say "It's Too Late to Start"

It's never too late to start something new: ''I was thirty-two when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate.'' (Famous TV Chef Julia Child)

Be Willing to Risk Rejection

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out to another is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas, your dreams before the crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. 
The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.
He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change, love...live.
Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave, he has forfeited freedom.
Only a person who risks is free. (Can't find source. Let me know if you know it!)

Hang Around Encouragers

Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom, while discouragement often nips it in the bud. Any of us will put out more and better ideas if our efforts are truly appreciated.  (Alexander Osborn)

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A close friend is someone who...knows everything about you, yet totally accepts you...will listen to your most heretical ideas without rejecting you;...and knows how to criticize you in a way you'll listen to. (From the collection of Barry St. Clair)

George Bernard Shaw said "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."

''The entrepreneurial mind-set continues to thrive at Microsoft because one of our major goals is to reinvent ourselves - we have to make sure that we are the ones replacing our products instead of someone else.'' (George Taninecz, ''Gates Wins Respect,'' Industry Week, Nov. 20, 1995, p. 12.)

Weird Ideas are Okay

''We tell our people that if no one laughs at at least one of their ideas, they're probably not being creative enough.'' (Bill Gates, ''Office 'Retreat' Should Be Work,'' New York Times Special Features, October 9, 1996)

Break Out of the Mold and Think Differently

''This, the task is not so much to see what no one yet has seen, but to think what nobody yet has thought about that which everybody sees.'' (Schopenhauer)

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IBM's motto: Think
Apple Computer's Motto: Think Different

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We each find ourselves equipped with different types of gifts, and often different types of intelligences to maximize those gifts. So believe me, an I.Q. test doesn't tell you the whole story of your intelligence, much less your potential. You've probably heard of Mensa, the exclusive organization for those with I.Q.'s in the top 2%. 

I read a story about a Mensa convention in San Francisco where ''a bunch of Mensa members were lunching at a local café. They discovered that their salt shaker contained pepper and their pepper shaker was full of salt. How could they swap the contents of the bottles without spilling, and using only the implements at hand? Clearly this was a job for Mensa! The group debated and presented ideas, and finally came up with a brilliant solution involving a napkin, a straw, and an empty saucer. They called the waitress over to dazzle her with their solution. 

''Ma'am,'' they said, ''We couldn't help but notice that pepper shaker contains salt and the salt shaker--'' 

''Oh,'' the waitress interrupted. ''Sorry about that.'' She unscrewed the caps of both bottles, switched them, and said, ''Will that be one check or separate?'' (Tamim Ansary, ''What's Your I.Q.?'', March 12, Microsoft Network)

So, who was smarter, the waitress or the Mensa clan? It depends on what type of intelligence you're measuring. Just because your particular intelligence doesn't rate well on I.Q. tests or school subjects doesn't mean you're not intelligent. You may just have aspects of intelligence that aren't measured by those tests. 

Enjoy Solving Problems in Creative Ways

''Today, I work because it's fun. In that sense, I guess you could say that I approach business as a kind of problem-solving challenge. That doesn't mean I don't take business seriously, because I do. But life's a lot more fun if you treat its challenges in creative ways.'' (p. 39, Bill Gates Speaks, by Janet Lowe, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)

The suggestion box idea works at Kodak because employees receive recognition and rewards for their ideas. If an idea isn't accepted, you receive a written explanation of why action was not taken. If your idea is used, you are financially rewarded, Kodak has adopted some 700,000 ideas submitted by its employees, who have been rewarded to the tune of $20 million. ''Speaker's Library of Business Stories, Anecdotes and Humor, by Joe Griffith''

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Some businesses are great at listening to new ideas and rewarding them. For example, Robert Levering, in the ''100 Best Companies to Work For, says, ''At Marion Labs each year, the person who offers the best suggestion receives a week-long, all expenses-paid trip for two to any city in the world, plus an extra week of vacation.'' Do we encourage great ideas from those in our ministries?

Any one who has seen the Star Wars series, or the Indiana Jones trilogy, knows the incredible excitement that producer George Lucas can pack into a movie. But it's doubtful that Lucas would have made anything at all out of his life, had he not first given up his old dreams. You see, during his teen years, a lot of people considered him a loser who was going nowhere in life. He never applied himself in school and dreamed only about racing cars. But his dreams all ended just a few days before his graduation. While driving home from the library in his Fiat, he prepared for a left turn by glancing in his rearview mirror. But as he started the turn, he heard the sound of another car, a blowing horn, and the impact of a speeding Chevy crunching into the driver side of his car. It should have killed him. The little Fiat turned four or five complete flips before it wrapped around a solid oak tree. The impact was so great that it actually moved the entire tree a couple of feet over, leaving a huge hole in its former position.

But miraculously, George survived. Get this: during the Fiat's third flip, his regulation racing seat belt snapped, throwing him out of the open top and onto the ground. He was close to death, but recovered slowly through two weeks in the hospital and months of physical therapy. His Fiat didn't survive, ending up in the junkyard.

But after the accident, George was a changed person. He decided there must be some reason that God allowed him to survive, so he set his mind to get his act together and make something out of his life. He left his racing dreams behind and decided to go to college. There, he developed an interest in literature and writing. And instead of driving racecars, he began filming them. Today, he's glad for his decision to let his old life and his old dreams die, so that he could go a new direction. You see, without giving up his old life, he would have never found his niche in the film industry, and no one would have ever seen Star Wars. So be flexible about your future. Hold your dreams with an open hand, just in case life's circumstances shift.

(Facts from Skywalking: The Life And Times Of George Lucas, by Dale Pollock, Harmony Books, 1983, pp. xiii-39. Written by Steve Miller, Copyright Jan., 2003)

Think Through How to Communicate Your Ideas

''You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere.'' (Lee Iacocca, successful leader of Chrysler Corp.)

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Benjamin Franklin found that in promoting great projects, he could often go further by presenting them, not as his own ideas, but as the proposal of a group of people. In his own words, ''I therefore put myself as much as I could out of sight, and stated it as a Scheme of a Number of Friends, who had requested me to go about and propose it to such as they thought Lovers of Reading. In this way my Affair went on more smoothly…frequent Successes. Thus, don't present one's self as the Purposer of any useful Project that might be suppos'd to raise one's Reputation in the smallest degree above that of one's Neighbors, when one has need of their Assistance to accomplish that Project.'' (Autobiography, p. 87)

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Warren Buffett, America's most successful investor, says this about putting ideas simply: ''There's something about smart people explaining ideas to an orangutan that makes their decision-making better.'' (quoted in Fortune on October 26, 1987)