Think Week

There are many reasons to be envious of Bill Gates – the massive amounts of cash, one of the biggest software companies in the world, the success, the ability to do what you love doing, etc, etc. But the thing I’m most envious of is his invention of the “Think Week” (I don’t know if it was originally his invention, but he’s certainly made it famous).

The idea was that every time innovation was low, Bill would put a week aside to lock himself away from the world of technology and the pressures of being the figurehead of the Microsoft Corporation, switch off his cell phone and ponder the direction of technology and the world of business, in search of the next big thing and the next wave of impact upon the technology world.

I’ve just spent two days away from the office, enjoying life and the recent heat-wave that’s been basking the UK at the moment. I spent the first day sat in a park reading, the second day I spent walking along the beach with my iPod. Both provided a good time to think things through – and I’ve managed to think up a few ideas of things I would like to get done and consider further with some solid research (which I’ve already committed to my task list and have done a little bit of work towards).

I wonder though, just how much more I could have achieved if I’d spent a whole week thinking more things through. One thing is for sure, I wouldn’t have left my last job if I’d have just taken a week’s holiday to think about my position and the next direction the job could have progressed in. From time to time now, I’m stumbling across new things that I’d never considered before and found they would have been perfect for the organisation and the job that I no longer have. And the position I’m in now…..give me a week to think about it!