Are you working too hard? Corporate decision makers need to review whether those for whom they are responsible are striking the right balance between activity and thought, and between action and reaction. Maybe less 'input' and fewer interruptions would mean more valuable outputs. We must be more selective and safeguard quality time for reflection, reassessment and looking ahead. Companies should encourage key staff to take sabbaticals, while longer vacations for bureaucrats and legislators might mean less regulation and red tape. Creative insights invariably occur outside of the 'world of work', when doing something different allows alert individuals to spot new patterns, links and relationships. People require quiet spaces such as patches of grass along riverbanks where they can sit, dream, meditate and think. Prof.
Colin Coulson-Thomas, Author of 'Transforming the Company: manage
change, compete and win' (Kogan Page, 2002).
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