I like this. I am using an edited version of this quote in my new book, Future Minds, but I rather like this longer version. It reminds me of a guy at IBM that I once did some work for. He was a smoker and talked about his “thinking sticks.” Only problem is he’s not really allowed to use them anymore (or at least the places where he can “think” are being restricted).

This is a quote from Charles Constable, Director of Strategy at Channel Five Television (thanks Charles).

“Often the ‘spark’ comes when I am not supposed to be thinking. I’m afraid I am a smoker – now sentenced to pursue this awful habit outside. I think smoking is about relaxing (for me at least) – so I let my mind stop being boxed in by whatever I was doing before hand. That’s when it gets to work on its own, and that’s when it works most laterally – both in terms of what it ‘chooses’ to decide to mull on and in terms of connections it makes between things. I sometimes find it hard to retain the thoughts when having to get back to the day job of the next immediate challenge – usually have to write it down or say it to someone. This works particularly well late at night or when it’s quiet. Or alternatively – in the bath… …a bit of a cliché but true…I think the other time I think well is when I am stealing ideas from others! People say things, which lead you to make good, new connections – to see things in ways you had not previously. I’ve often said that the best ideas I have came from someone else. This is where ‘sparks’ can be molded into something more concrete that you can really do something with. So at work I like to think with 1 or (no more than) 2 people through an iterative thought process. Two brains are often better than one for really good constructive thinking. Too many brains and the process gets tough.”