Curiosity may have killed the cat, and Curious George seemed to get in trouble due to his curiosity, you are neither a cat nor a monkey.

The fact is curiosity is your friend.

Do you admire children who learn at such a rapid rate? Ever shake your head and wish you could learn at the rate and proficiency they do?

According to the research, you can.

One of the key things that you can do to learn as rapidly and joyfully as children is to be more curious.

Along with aiding your learning speed, when you are curious you become more creative, more mentally flexible, expand your mind and generally become more alive.

At this point you might be thinking, that curiosity is good, and you know some people who seem to be curious, but that list doesn't include you. Never fear. Even if your list doesinclude you, the reality is everyone can be more curious.

You just have to choose to, and consciously do the kinds of things that help. In other words, curiosity is a learned (or re-learned) skill. Here are six ways to help you be more curious.

Stop and smell the roses. When you are more observant, your curiosity is more easily heightened. Slow down a bit; perhaps do things a bit differently than your routine. You just might see something new or different. The new or different may peak your curiosity, allowing you to explore and learn.

Create new experiences. Stopping to smell the roses may be a new experience for you; however, there are many ways to create new experiences. Consider a new hobby, a new restaurant, a new book, a new magazine, new games, new friends (or at least a new friend), new software or new places. These are all examples of how you can use new experiences to inject the opportunity for curiosity into your life.

Ask new questions. Questions are at the heart of curiosity. It's questions that lead the mental search for answers; it's questions that excite the brain. Consider questions like: "How come?" "What is that?" "How is that used?" "What was the purpose?" "How long has that been the common approach?" I hope you see the point of all these. They each create a gap in knowledge because you observed something and thought to ask. Once the question is asked, your brain wants an answer!

Ask an old question more often. Specifically, you need to ask "Why?"Kids are the most curious people on the planet. They also ask "Why?" the most. You need to ask "Why?" more often. Ask it regularly. Make sure to ask it even in situations where you think you already know the answer.

Be other focused. When you are focused on yourself (a topic you probably know a lot about) you're likely to be less curious. Have you noticed how all of the other suggestions so far have put you out into the world in some way? It is the same with this one. In any conversation or relationship, when you are more other focused you stimulate your curiosity. When with others you can observe, ask questions, learn about and from them, and find ways to serve them. You will derive many benefits from being more focused on others, you also will reap greater curiosity.
Look it up. World Book Encyclopedia had a "Look it Up Club" in the 1960's. The catchphrase is emblazoned in my memory. "We never guess, we look it up." Today you might first look online instead of the World Book, but the action is the same. If you don't know something, don't let it pass by. Grab your Dictionary, or type it into Google. When you look it up you are feeding your naturally curious mind - and getting a great answer.

All of these (and a hundred others you could add to the list) require you to make the choice to be curious. Doing them will reinforce - and add to - your curiosity.

The beautiful thing about these actions is that as you are more curious, you will find more things to be curious about! Expanding your life in these ways provides you with a way to not only learn more and be more creative, but to live a more enjoyable and fulfilling life!

Potential Pointer: Being more curious plays a significant role in creating a better life. Be aware of the need and value of curiosity in your life and do something each day to be more curious.

I know lots of things.

For instance, I know about college basketball.

I know about the history of the sport, the rules, the great players and legendary coaches. I enjoy watching it and have even travelled great distances for specific games. This knowledge is fueled by my interest and is a source of enjoyment to me. But I would fail on the court, behind the whistle or at the microphone calling a game.

I also know about antique John Deere tractors. I can tell you about body styles, the legacy of various models, the history of the company, the subtle changes in the paint color and much more. And yet, I would have trouble painting a tractor and having it look the way I want it.

I've been driving for a long time. I love to drive and am rarely in a passenger seat when in a car. I know that when at an intersection I need to look right and left. And yet a couple of years ago, I didn't look left close enough - and ended up several hundred feet away from the intersection, in the ditch, my car totaled. (Thankfully neither I nor the other driver were hurt seriously).

Yes, I know lots of things. And between the books in my office, the television in my house, the people that I know, and the internet that is nearly always at my fingertips, I have access to most any knowledge I could possibly need or want.

And yet, in the end, all of this knowledge is worthless.

Because knowledge isn't enough.

Yes, knowledge is a start - if I don't know to look left and right at the intersection, I won't be able to do it. But if I know it and don't do it, it won't matter. I'll still get the same (potentially life threatening) results.

As professionals we spend a large amount of time acquiring ideas, procedures, approaches and techniques. And any information we don't already know is usually available to us quickly, and often at a very low cost.

It is admirable to be curious and to want to learn, and yet this very approach gets in our way.
Because knowledge isn't enough.

The missing ingredient to greater performance, improved results, greater satisfaction, less stress and much more isn't knowledge. The missing ingredient is action.

You can only begin to make a difference for yourself, your organization, your family, your community and your world when you stop focusing on knowledge and take action.
You must do what you know.

So your challenge isn't first to acquire more knowledge, but to acquire more skill. You learn a skill - be it listening, leadership or lion-taming - by doing it. Yes, knowledge will aid you in being more successful in any of these things, but in the end, it's about skills.

There are a lot of words for skill building. You can call it practice, implementation, execution, trying it, taking action, application and more. It doesn't matter what you call it, the point is, you must do it.

You must try the ideas you learn. You must put your feet on the pedals, pick up the phone or open the software. I know it is risky. I know it might be hard. And I realize it might not be very comfortable.

After all, you've been doing it one way for awhile (or "getting by" by not doing it at all). If you want to improve, experience new things and make a difference though, you must move past the discomfort and being willing to make a mistake. In fact, you might actually get worse at a task, when trying something new - for awhile - until the new skill kicks in and you soar to new levels of success and confidence.

To really learn a skill you must practice; you must take action. Because knowledge alone isn't enough - it's only half of the equation.

Success in any life endeavor equals knowledge + action.

Potential Pointer: Knowing something isn't enough. While knowing things is important, it is behavior that matters. Concentrate on translating knowledge into behavior if you really want to make a difference in your world.

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Ask any new manager, supervisor or leader about the challenges of the job and chances are delegation is on that list. That's why you will find delegation in nearly every new supervisor workshop and in most books on leadership.

Right or wrong, promotions often happen because we were great at our previous job. It is those skills, behaviors and expertise that are being rewarded. So, naturally when we move to the next job, usually with increasingly responsibilities and more (or our first) direct reports, it is hard to stop doing those things we are best at (and were rewarded for).

With that promotion comes new responsibilities and an even-more packed calendar. And likely some version of this great advice: "You can't do it all yourself, you will have to delegate." Most leaders either heed this logical and practical advice or are driven to it by the sheer stress that comes with not being able to do everything.

When done correctly delegation is a powerful behavior; unfortunately, the reality is that far too often it becomes a painful process both for the delegator and those to whom work has been delegated.

All of this creates dangers that leaders must recognize. Once you recognize these dangers, you've taken the first step towards overcoming and/or avoiding these problems.

The Dangers

• Not delegating enough. If you hold on to too much, you risk overburdening yourself and not giving others a chance to grow from new experiences.
• Delegating too much. In addition to possibly overburdening others, delegating too much can lead to perceptions that you are uninterested, unavailable, detached or disinterested. If there are specific reasons (a special project, for example) why you must delegate more in the short or long term, make sure people know and understand this reasoning.
• Delegating too fast. Delegating too fast could be that you are piling things on people too quickly (before they are ready), holding people responsible for tasks without making your expectations clear, or allowing them to develop the skills to be successful. Either way, this speed can cause major problems and contribute to poor results.
• Delegating too late. If you wait until your plate is so full that you know you can't complete everything, and then hastily give some tasks to other members of your team, you are dooming others to fail. And when they fail you confirm for yourself that "If I want something done right, I need to do it myself."
• Not delegating at all. There may be any number or reasons why someone doesn't delegate. Sometimes it is a lack of skill in handing off tasks and responsibilities. More often it's overconfidence, pride or perfectionism.
• Having the wrong focus. When we delegate to help ourselves, we run the danger of the delegation being less than effective. Instead of focusing on ourselves, we must focus on helping the other person succeed.

The Solution

The solution is two-fold:

• Find a balance of speed and amount of delegation.
• Stop thinking of delegation as a way to delete items from your to-do or responsibility list.

Delegation should be considered as a developmental tool. In other words, delegation isn't about dumping, it's about development; it isn't about you, it is about others.

Once you get your intention straight, that effective delegation is a true sharing of responsibility and provides an opportunity for others to grow their skills, you have taken a huge step toward avoiding all of the dangers listed above.

Before you move on to your next task, or read your next article, take a minute to reread the last two paragraphs. And then ask yourself where your balance is in how you currently delegate. Are you too fast or too slow in delegating? Are you delegating enough to too much?

Most importantly, reflect on your intention in delegation.

If you want to delegate for more effective results, put your focus and intention on developing others, rather than dumping things from your to-do list.

Potential Pointer: Effective delegation requires the right intention. As long as you keep the focus on yourself, your delegation will be less effective. When you focus instead on the other person, and how you can help him or her succeed with these new tasks, delegation will work better for everyone.

- Think of a teacher you are grateful for.

- If at all possible call or send them a note of thanks.

- And teach someone else something of lasting value today.

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