Imagine this…located in one of the most innovative corporate organizations, whose name I won’t mention as you all know the company, there is a particular chair located in a quiet room located in the north west corner of the building.
Now this chair is quite unassuming. It is a hazelnut coloured leather chair, that is well worn and has some deep indentations from a large number of bottoms residing for extended periods of time as they enjoyed the comfortable sitting experience.
The uniqueness of this chair is that each occupant leaves a thought impression behind them that is absorbed and read by the next and subsequent beneficiaries who have the good fortune to sit in it.
This chair, also known within this corporate company as the “chair of accumulated thought” is used to derive and develop new innovations related to products and processes.
So how does it work? Well, it’s a bit like “walking in someone else’s shoes”. Once you have true empathy, you are able to view issues from another person’s perspective and this new and stimulating knowledge can be used to provide you with a completely different insight into solving a particular issue you may be facing. The brilliance of the “chair of accumulated thought” is that the empathetic experiences compound upon each other thereby providing a complex and truly original solution to any problem that could not simply be solved alone by any individual.
Yes, you are right, the “chair of accumulated thought” does not actually exist. But, it could quite easily if we shared our experiences and thoughts openly and freely with each other when trying to solve a problem. In many situations, our own personal prejudices and self-doubts limit or hinder our ideas that tend to lead to a less than optimum solution being achieved.
So next time you are solving a complex problem, or trying to develop that spark of thought innovation, why not try to utilise the “chair of accumulated thought”. May I suggest you take it in turn to actually sit in a chair by yourself and write down your thoughts in a writing pad strategically placed on the arm of the chair. The next person who sits in the chair, then reads your thoughts of prose, quietly absorbs your thinking and then adds their ideas on the page under yours. This process continues until all your colleagues assigned to solve the problem have had the opportunity to sit and write in the chair. It would be rather interesting to read the words accumulated at the end? Who knows what creative thought solutions may permeate from the activity!!
Thoughts that might just be useful in the future 
Liz
/ June 26, 2014that’s a really cool idea, Stephen! It’s something that could really be done. Everything works better when folks collaborate and share.
Steven Cramer
/ June 26, 2014And…..the joy of having a quiet think in a comfy chair at the time time….bliss!