What Do We Discover When We Give Our Minds Space?

Michael's days rarely went according to plan. Before he had finished his morning coffee, emails were arriving, colleagues were asking questions, and tasks that had seemed straightforward were already competing for his attention.

He was good at solving problems quickly. His manager relied on him to make decisions, and Michael took pride in being someone who could keep things moving. But lately, he had noticed that he was spending most of his time responding to what was urgent, with little opportunity to think about what might be improved.

One afternoon, while waiting for a meeting to begin, Michael opened his notebook. Instead of reviewing his task list, he began writing down a question that had been on his mind: why did his team keep running into the same problems?

He had no immediate answer. He wrote a few thoughts, crossed some out, and drew connections between things he had previously treated as separate issues. A few minutes later, a possible explanation began to take shape.

The next day, he returned to the question and discussed his thoughts with a colleague. Together, they identified a small change to the way their team shared information.

It wasn't a dramatic breakthrough, and the change didn't solve everything. But Michael realized that he had reached a useful idea by doing something his usual schedule rarely allowed: giving a question time to develop before trying to answer it.

A Question to Explore
When do you give yourself space to think beyond what needs your immediate attention, and what might emerge when you do?