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. He was curious about everything.

“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 little seed -- and seeing what other bright ideas grow right 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.

Are the members of your team curious? More importantly, do you think curiosity is an important attribute for a person to have?

According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of “Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention,” if people don’t have a strong sense of curiosity, wonder and interest, it’s pretty tough to recognize an interesting problem.

But exactly what are necessary traits to first recognize and then wrestle with a problem effectively? He advises in his book to always be open to new experiences and have a fluid attention that constantly processes things from the environment. Without this kind of interest, the author says it’s hard to get to the crux of a problem and then push beyond what is already known to solve it in a creative way.

Managers should strive to evoke curiosity and a passion for knowledge in workers, who will likely respond by becoming immersed in solving the company’s problems creatively.

The best way to empower your employees is to ask questions that spur their curiosity and creativity.

-- Challenge the conventional wisdom. Ask questions that move people away from the tried-and-true and help them think more creatively. For example: “What if we give our product away to every 10th caller on Tuesdays?”

-- Change the perspective. Pose questions that take a higher view of a problem and encourage people to think of the long term or the broader implications. “How will this change affect the competition? What will happen to the marketplace as a result?”

-- Include the entire organization. Frame questions that address the needs of your organization and the people in it. “If we eliminate unnecessary paperwork, what will happen in the accounting department?”

-- Spur excitement. Ask questions that get people excited about possibilities and potential (and not afraid of the price of failure). “Do you see any reason why we shouldn’t put this idea into action right away?”

Curiosity goes far beyond the what-ifs -- but that’s the best place to start?

Mackay’s Moral: The only question that doesn’t have an answer is the one that is not asked.

A dejected father confided in his pastor with a problem: His youngster had been caught cheating on a test at school. He was crushed, feeling like he had failed as a father, and was concerned it would saddle the child with a reputation for dishonesty.

“The worst thing that can happen to a youngster starting school,” said the father, “is to get caught cheating.”

“Not at all,” said the clergyman. “The worst thing at the start of a person’s life is to cheat and NOT get caught.”

What is a good parent’s main job? The days of simply supporting the family financially may be over, according to a Pew Research Center report. Asked what’s “extremely important” for a father to provide, a telephone survey of 1,004 American adults got these findings:

-- Values and morals: 58 percent

-- Emotional support: 52 percent

-- Discipline: 47 percent

-- Income: 41 percent

The results follow a similar trend for mothers, with “values and morals” at the top and “income” coming in last.

Every time dishonesty wins, it gets harder to convince our children that honesty is the best policy. Complete honesty in little things is not a little thing at all.

Honesty, ethics, integrity, values, morals -- all mean more or less the same thing. In my estimation, you can interchange them, because they all convey the single attribute that determines whether a person or an organization can be trusted.

On the heels of recurrent tales of corruption in most every aspect of modern life, it is a commonly accepted fact that ethics are what each of us thinks other people should apply. The challenge we all face is that we cannot fudge on our own set of ethics and values, even when it is extremely tempting. That is the kiss of death.

Peter Drucker, the late management guru, once said, “There is no such thing as business ethics -- there is only ethics.”

My good friend, world-renowned leadership guru John Maxwell, makes the same point in his book “There's No Such Thing as Business Ethics.” John gives three reasons why people make unethical choices. First, people tend to do what's most convenient. They fall into the trap of doing what's easy, but not necessarily what's right. Second, people do whatever it takes to win -- what they call “winning at any cost.” If it's a choice between winning by being unethical, or being ethical and perhaps losing -- then ethics loses. Third, he refers to situational ethics. People rationalize their choices with relativism. They make their choices based on whatever seems right at the time.

That’s why it is critical that every company and organization has a defined code of ethics.

Josh Spiro writes at Inc.com that a code of ethics is a collection of principles and practices that a business believes in and aims to follow. A code of business ethics, along with a company's mission statement and more specific policies, gives employees an idea of what the company believes in and rules of conduct for them to follow.

“The key in distinguishing a code of ethics ... is to hit the right level of specificity. It should address both the particular nuances of the company's industry as well as its broader goals for social responsibility and should be concrete enough to serve as a guide for employees in a quandary without laying out rules for every situation that could arise,” Spiro writes.

Michael Connor, the editor and publisher of the online magazine Business Ethics, believes that there's no such thing as a business being too small to benefit from a code of ethics. Having a code is “often viewed as a luxury or something that is an added cost,” he told Spiro. “The reality these days is that the business that does not have a code of ethics subjects itself to a much greater risk in its day-to-day operations, and if there is an unfortunate incident, they expose themselves to much greater risk (from) regulatory and prosecutorial authorities.”

Ethics codes don’t have to be long, complex documents. One example of a simple statement of ethics was written in 1904 for Rotary International. Apply these four questions to everything your organization says or does:

-- Is it true?

-- Is it fair to everyone concerned?

-- Will it build good will and better relationships?

-- Will it benefit everyone concerned?

Mackay’s Moral: If truth stands in your way, you’re headed in the wrong direction.

The founder of a highly successful company was asked what it took to succeed. He answered: “The same thing it took to get started: a sense of urgency about getting things done.”

The people who make things happen share the same sense of urgency. Ask any entrepreneur to list the keys to getting a company off the ground, and urgency will be among the traits listed.

No matter how intelligent or able you may be, if you don’t have a sense of urgency, you'd better start developing it now. The world is full of competent people who honestly intend to do things tomorrow; however, tomorrow seldom comes for them. Many individuals with less talent are more successful because they understand the importance of urgency. In other words, get started now.

The downfall for many people and companies is that once they are successful, complacency sets in. They are comfortable and satisfied with the status quo. Complacency is the enemy of urgency. Things don’t happen by sitting back. Things don’t happen by watching and waiting for others.

John Kotter, a Harvard Business School professor and author of “A Sense of Urgency,” says that keeping up urgency is a challenge, because leaders must create it over and over. It must be embedded in your culture. Companies are vulnerable to complacency setting in.

He advises that the key for leaders in maintaining a sense of urgency is “to value the capacity to appreciate unexpected opportunities. This focus results in work that is highly leveraged, meaningful work, a culture that is satisfying to heart and mind, and an organization that continues to succeed in a changing world.”

So, the challenge shifts to keeping employees motivated and determined to succeed.

According to Gallup’s “State of the American Workplace Report,” published in 2013, only 30 percent of employees are actively committed to doing a good job. These are your engaged employees who have passion and a profound connection to their company. Unfortunately, 50 percent of employees only put in their time and are essentially “checked out.” The remaining 20 percent are actively disengaged employees who are counterproductive and negatively influence others.

Another problem is false urgency, where you have a lot of activity without productive results. John Kotter explains: “False urgency is rooted in anger and anxiety ... This anger creates conflict, battles and a lot of meetings. It is often created by pressure from above, with actions that are not aimed at the root cause or real solutions.”

True urgency is focused on accomplishing something important each day. Urgency is not driven by fear, but rather by a deep determination.

Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, talked about urgency in his book “The Road Ahead.” He said the secret to Microsoft’s success was that employees always thought of themselves on the losing side, which made them strive to be No. 1. That attitude created a sense of urgency that made them work hard to flourish in the highly competitive tech industry.

In today’s entrepreneurial environment, if you don’t move fast, you get run over. Without a sense of urgency, people and businesses just can’t move fast enough. But this is not a new concept.

Centuries ago, Leonardo da Vinci said: “I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.”

Legendary pro football coach Vince Lombardi demonstrated a tremendous sense of urgency when he took the helm of the Green Bay Packers. They had a miserable 1-10-1 record in 1958, and at training camp in 1959, he had some stern words for them.

Lombardi said: “Gentlemen, we are going to have a great football team. We are going to win games. Get that? You are going to learn to block, run and tackle. You are going to outplay all the teams that come up against you. Get that?”

Virtually the same players as the year before went on to win seven games that year, a division title the next year, and an NFL championship the third year. The renewed passion for the game, fueled by their newfound urgency, produced astounding results.

Mackay’s Moral: If it’s worth doing, do it now!