We're told to be busy.

We're told to produce results, meet targets, hit deadlines and keep moving. We are taught that activity is a virtue and reflection is a waste of time.

I think that is one of the biggest mistakes modern society makes.

In this video, I use William Henry Davies' famous poem Leisure to explore why creativity, imagination, innovation and good judgement all require something that our culture increasingly discourages: time to stop and think.

From schools and universities to workplaces, charities and politics, we have become obsessed with measurable activity. We reward action even when it is misguided. We celebrate busyness even when it produces poor outcomes.

But many of the best ideas in human history emerged because someone took time to stand back, reflect and ask questions.

Perhaps what Britain needs now is not more activity, but more thought.

Maybe we need to stop staring at our screens and start staring out of the window.

This is the audio version:

The Debate Ammunition for this video is available here.

This is the transcript:

Have you ever been told to stop staring out of the window? Or to buck up and get on with things? Or to stop wasting time? The message is always the same. Look busy and take action. Produce something and keep moving. And I think that is terrible advice.

We are told not to think, but to do. Activity is valued above reflection. Busyness is treated as a virtue, and thinking is often treated as idleness. And I think we have got this badly wrong and need to change our priorities.

Now I've been fortunate. I became self-employed at the age of 26, and since then, very few people have told me what to do. And I'm pleased about that because I'm not very good at being told what to do. Even when I was employed at universities, I pursued my own agendas, and that's what they employed me to do.

I have had the freedom to think. That's probably why I'm making these videos. And I have had the freedom to explore ideas. And a poem captures the point perfectly. It's by a Welsh poet, now long dead, called William Henry Davies. And the poem is called Leisure. It asks what life becomes without reflection. It values observation and contemplation. It celebrates taking time to notice, and its message matters now more than ever.

So, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to quote this poem, which I happen to have in my collection, and I probably do read more poetry than most people:

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?—

No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

That final message is the important one. We have forgotten its significance. Davies understood something really important. He had a moment of inspiration. He took time to stand and stare. And the fact is that great ideas often emerge from reflection.

Creativity requires space and time, if only by going for a walk, and we have largely forgotten that truth.

This problem exists everywhere. It exists in workplaces. It exists in schools. I saw it repeatedly in universities. It exists in charities and voluntary organisations. Everyone is pushed towards what are called ‘measurable activities'.

We no longer value experimentation. Funders and employers demand specific outcomes. Every activity requires predetermined targets. Few people can just stop and stare or simply try a good idea.

Exploration is discouraged.

Learning through experimentation is undervalued.

We are impoverished by this constant activity. We rarely stop and think. Reflection is squeezed out. Questions are neglected. Assumptions go unchallenged, and mistakes are repeated.

And politicians are much the same. They are trapped by doing. They're constantly in action. They blunder from issue to issue. Old rules are accepted without question. Alternatives are rarely considered. Better solutions are never explored, and the questions we should be asking are ignored.

Are the rules right? Should we change them? Do we still need them? Is there something better that we could be doing? Why are we doing this at all? The economy needs time to think, to deal with those issues.

We cannot keep repeating failed approaches.

We need to stop and reflect.

We need to look out of the window.

We need to ask what really matters.

We need to redesign what we do.

So, my prescription for the UK is simple. Sometimes we need to stop and stare and look out of the window and think and redesign, because only then do we have a chance. And boy, do we need that chance.

That's what I think. What do you think? There is a poll down below. Let us have your opinion. Let us have your comments. And please, if you like this video, and if you'd like to buy us a coffee so that we can make some more, please do.

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