Curiosity and purpose are a powerful combination.

In his excellent book on Leonardo da Vinci, Walter Isaacson argues that we should learn some key lessons from the Renaissance master’s life. Among his key ideas are the need to stay curious, maintain a sense of childlike wonder about the world, and be willing to get distracted and dive down rabbit holes to pursue the things that catch your attention .

Certainly, Leonardo’s curiosity was remarkable. Art historian Kenneth Clark called Leonardo da Vinci “the most curious man in history” and his notebooks are full of questions and provocations. What does a woodpecker’s tongue look like? What happens if you inflate a pig’s lungs? How can you go ice skating, repair a canal lock, or measure the size of a city or the sun?

These questions – and many others – are omnipresent in Leonardo’s writings, reminding him to stay curious and continue asking questions about his world. But it’s easy to forget that Leonardo wasn’t just deeply curious. As leaders, we need to look deeper if we want to learn the right lessons from the world’s most curious man.

Beyond curiosity

Even Leonardo’s biggest fans will recognize that unbridled curiosity isn’t always appealing. One critic calls Leonardo “incomparably bizarre,” and it’s easy to see why. People who walk around asking weird questions might Sometimes You come across useful information, but often it’s simply wrong, disappears into dead ends, or leads your team in the wrong direction.

What distinguished Leonardo was his willingness to use his insatiable curiosity deliberately as part of a larger project to challenge conventional wisdom and test ideas for himself. His strange questions were part of a well-organized program of exploration – interrogating ideas in anatomy, engineering, mathematics, etc. – to go beyond the obsolete certainties of his time.

Additionally, Leonardo had an uncanny ability to ground his curiosity in the real world and use theory and experimentation in tandem to test ideas and arrive at new understandings. His curiosity was not mere idle speculation: it was a testing ground where he made connections between what he read or heard from others, what he saw around him, and what he could test or check for himself.

Lead with thoughtful curiosity

As leaders, we must cultivate not only Leonardo’s wandering curiosity, but also his determination and drive. We need to create space for our team to play and ask weird questions, but we also need to connect this playful exploration to a larger mission and find ways to organize our knowledge, ideas and capabilities to advance our people and our organizations.

Make no mistake: you must always remain curious. But we also need to be mindful of how we unleash our curiosity. You can’t just send your employees out into the world without any tips for chasing all the shiny objects that interest them.

The goal is always to move forward with Knowledge Mindfulness. This means staying playful and joyful, but also using this delicious exploration intelligently to generate tangible benefits.

After all, Leonardo’s goal was not just be curious. It was about using your curiosity to progress towards your goals. As leaders, we need an equally deep and enduring commitment to deliberately enrich our total stock of knowledge in ways that directly and consistently help us move toward our goals.