Non-time

A consultant once toured Henry Ford's factory and stopped at one office, annoyed.

Inside, a man sat with his feet up on the desk. Doing nothing. Staring at the wall.

"Why do you pay him $50,000 a year?" the consultant asked. (Serious money. Nearly a million in today's dollars.)

Ford's answer: a few years back, that man had an idea that saved the company $10 million. And when he had it, his feet were exactly where they are now.

Non-time

Ford understood something we've deleted from modern work: ideas arrive in the gaps. The shower. The walk. The stare out the window that looks, to any passing consultant, like theft.

Warren Buffett runs the same play. Bill Gates once flipped through Buffett's paper diary and found it almost empty. Week after week, nothing. One of the richest men alive, guarding blank space like it was gold. Because it is.

"I insist on a lot of time, almost every day, to just sit and think." — Warren Buffett

Look at your calendar. Is there a single hour this week where nothing is scheduled? Where an idea could actually land?

Busyness feels safe because it's visible. Thinking looks like nothing, right up until it saves the company $10 million.

Put your feet on the desk. Defend the empty hour.

— Dan

P.S. When did your last good idea show up? Mine queue up in the shower.