Curiosity Killed the Cat...

By Megan Seibel  -- 

Did you know that the full proverb is actually "Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it


back?" 

I didn't. 

Of course, I had heard and been told the front portion many a time over my decades of life. To say I am a "curious" person is an understatement. Learner and Input are part of my Clifton StrengthsFinder profile. My college roommate and I decided that by the time we were parents our goal was to know at least a little bit about everything (yes, we thought that was normal as 19 year-olds)!

As I became an adult, however, I remember others aligning negative connotations to this old proverb. As far as I was concerned, it didn't matter to me if curiosity killed the cat; cats have nine lives, after all. It is my nature to ask questions. Lots of questions. And I did. In certain settings, though, I started to notice that the practice of asking questions didn't always seem the "popular" thing to do. I began to realize that some people are content with taking things at face value, as presented, as tried and tested before and because someone told them to or stated it to be true. On the farm, I found I couldn't learn enough. What soil type did we have? Why does that matter when it comes to ion exchange and nutrient uptake? How do hydraulics work and what are hydrostatic breaks? Which cover crops work best and why? What is that insect, plant disease, or growth? Are we sure we got the physics on that contraption correct? What happens if the water pressure drops? You get the picture. Then one day, a neighbor was helping us measure rows and said, "Hey Megan, curiosity killed the cat, you know." I was aghast.

For a while, I slowed my curious ways (not for long), but that was not who I am. The what, how, when, where, WHY of everything gets me up in the morning and keeps me up some nights. Sometimes, the issues are big and complex and I worry about parenting and teaching 20-somethings in this world we live in. 

How many times have we been faced with a question as simple as "what is leadership?" and found it so very hard to answer? The ripple effect of such a question is a thousand others, each concentric ring larger than the previous one - and all from that one central "plop" in the middle. 

So I ask - what questions do you "plop" in front of your students and how do you foster and nurture the curiosity that builds the ripple effect of their knowledge gain? As we think about workplace readiness and leadership skills worthy of developing, curiosity, active listening, and giving and receiving feedback are essential. 

So, even though curiosity may sting a little, let's work together to offer the satisfaction of an answer and something learned to all the cats in our lives!

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