The video explores the concept of upgrading our mental processes, drawing an analogy to how often we update technology such as phones and computers. It suggests that people experience their best thinking during undemanding tasks, like taking a shower or walking their dog. The speaker provides evidence through a study conducted by the University of California, which shows that participants perform better creatively when given undemanding tasks between tests.

The inefficacy of traditional brainstorming sessions is highlighted despite their continued use in workplaces for generating new ideas. Instead, the speaker introduces alternative methods, such as proactive procrastination and considering issues during personal thinking spaces, to enhance creative processes. The discussion references Daniel Kahneman's work on different types of thinking and illustrates the negative impacts of "vampire thinking," characterized by impulsive, immediate responses to complex problems in meetings.

Main takeaways from the video:

Please remember to turn on the CC button to view the subtitles.

Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. undemanding [ˌʌndɪˈmændɪŋ] - (adjective) - Not requiring much effort or concentration. - Synonyms: (easy, effortless, simple)

But the group that had the undemanding task, they did over 40% better on the second test.

2. brainstorming [ˈbreɪnˌstɔːrmɪŋ] - (noun) - A group creativity technique where efforts are made to find a conclusion for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas contributed by its members. - Synonyms: (idea generation, mind mapping, creative session)

Whenever we seem to need some new ideas, what do we do? We do some brainstorming.

3. meta-analysis [ˌmetə əˈnælɪsɪs] - (noun) - A statistical analysis that combines the results of multiple scientific studies. - Synonyms: (comprehensive analysis, synthesis of studies, data integration)

Now, a few years ago, Kevin Sawyer, sorry, Keith Sawyer, a psychologist at Washington University, did a meta analysis on brainstorming.

4. vampire [ˈvæmˌpaɪər] - (noun) - A metaphor used to describe individuals who do not reflect on answers but immediately respond to questions. - Synonyms: (impulsive thinker, rapid responder, instant thinker)

They are system one responders to a system two question. I'm sure you've seen it, something difficult, but it's how quickly can you get your answer in there? They are the vampires.

5. proactive procrastination [prəʊˈæktɪv prəkræstəˈneɪʃən] - (noun) - Deliberately delaying tasks with the intention of generating more thoughtful or creative ideas through reflection during the period of delay. - Synonyms: (reflective delay, intentional postponement, contemplative suspension)

An alternate approach is to use something called proactive procrastination.

6. hybrid working [ˈhaɪbrɪd ˈwɜːrkɪŋ] - (noun) - A flexible working arrangement where employees split their time between working from home and the office. - Synonyms: (flexible work, mixed-mode work, remote and office work)

Now, I'd like you all to think about this in the space until the next meeting, because during that time, a lot of us are actually doing hybrid working

7. system one and system two [ˈsɪstəm wʌn ænd ˈsɪstəm tuː] - (noun) - The two types of cognitive processes as described by Daniel Kahneman; System one is fast and instinctive, while system two is slow and deliberate. - Synonyms: (fast thinking, instinctive thinking, deliberate thinking)

Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Prize winning economist, wrote the book thinking fast and slow. In the book, he proposes two generic types of system one and system two.

8. cadence [ˈkeɪdəns] - (noun) - A regular rhythmic sequence, often used to describe the timing or frequency of events. - Synonyms: (rhythm, beat, tempo)

A lot of our meetings have a regular cadence.

9. disrupt [dɪsˈrʌpt] - (verb) - To interrupt by causing a disturbance or problem. - Synonyms: (disturb, interrupt, interfere)

If you adopt and embrace some of these opportunities for your thinking, you'll find you're able to address bigger, bolder questions and to answer them in a better way, in a way that will disrupt your normal thinking.

10. conducive [kənˈduːsɪv] - (adjective) - Making a certain situation or outcome likely or possible. - Synonyms: (favorable, beneficial, advantageous)

If you're driving down a nearly empty motorway or you're cruising along a winding country road, that's probably quite conducive to good thinking.

How to think better at work | Chris Thomason | TEDxReigate

We update the apps on our phone. We update the antivirus protection automatically, we upgrade the operating system. But how often do we upgrade our brain operating system? How often do we spend time thinking about our thinking? Because we all think all the time, even when we sleep in our dreams. For the next few minutes, I'd like to offer you a brain operating system upgrade. A freaky thinking upgrade. Something that will positively disrupt the way you think from this moment on.

To start, I want you to think, where are you when you do your best thinking? What are you doing? I've asked this question widely across the UK's largest bank, and the answers I get most often are in the shower, walking the dog, exercising at the gym, or driving in the car. Rarely does anybody say they get their best ideas at work. And nobody has yet to say to me they get their best ideas in a brainstorming session. While this may seem quite surprising, what is surprising is the truth behind why this is in 2012, the University of California performed some research and they used some unusual thinking techniques.

Unusual use techniques where people have to come up with ideas for an everyday item in a two minute period. They've got to try and find as many unusual uses for, say, a toothpick or a rubber band or a paper clip. In 2012, the University of California ran some research with groups to actually understand the way people think creatively. They used unusual usage techniques to try and identify the greatest number of ideas in a two minute period that people could for an everyday item, such as a toothpick, rubber band or a paperclip, they ran the test for two minutes and then they ran the test again for another two minutes.

But they split the 145 participants into four groups. One group, they didn't give any break at all between the two tests. Do the first test, then do the test again. The other three groups they gave a twelve minute break between the two tests. One group was told to sit there and relax, do nothing for twelve minutes. Another group was told to watch a monitor where numbers would flash up and they had to say whether the preceding number had been odd or even. That was deemed to be a demanding task and the final group had to again watch a monitor where numbers flashed up. But they had to say whether the number currently on the screen was odd or even, and that was deemed to be an undemanding task. The researchers then compared the performance between the first and the second test.

Well, the group that had no gap between the test fared really badly in the second test compared to the first one. The group that just sat there and relaxed, they did marginally worse on the second test. The group that had the demanding task, they did marginally better on the second test. But the group that had the undemanding task, they did over 40% better on the second test, way ahead of the others. Now, if you think where you are when you get your best ideas, you do your best thinking. If you're in the shower, that's an undemanding task. If you're walking the dog, if you're exercising, and if you drive in the car, if you're driving down a nearly empty motorway or you're cruising along a winding country road, that's probably quite conducive to good thinking.

But be in the centre of a city where you've got bus lanes and no entry signs and traffic lights and pedestrians and cyclists and other cars, it takes all your attention just to drive, never mind think. So it seems that to do good thinking, we should also be doing some kind of undemanding task at the same time. And if that's where we do our best thinking, then we actually do our best thinking in that time. So maybe you should save your important issues for those times.

In 1953, advertising executive Alex Osborne wrote a book called Applied Imagination. In the book, there was quite an extensive process, how to work with clients to develop new ideas. And within this extensive process, there's one little tool that he called brainstorming. Now, the rest of the process seems to fall into disuse. But what has stayed with us is brainstorming. Whenever we seem to need some new ideas, what do we do? We do some brainstorming. Over time, academics have liked to study brainstorming to compare the ways we think. Now, a few years ago, Kevin Sawyer, sorry, Keith Sawyer, a psychologist at Washington University, did a meta analysis on brainstorming. Now, a meta analysis is where you do a study of all the studies that have been done before.

He had to look at several hundred studies. His conclusion was that decades of research on brainstorming has conclusively shown that brainstorming groups think of fewer ideas than do the individuals who, when think alone and later pool their ideas. So the question is, why are we using brainstorming if it doesn't work? I'm sure you use this tool in your workplace. It's over 70 years old, and we use it when we actually have a need to overcome a major problem or to develop a new opportunity. Which other tools in your business or your workplace do you use for important things that are over 70 years old? I don't think very many, but potentially it's because we don't know of any alternatives.

Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Prize winning economist, wrote the book thinking fast and slow. In the book, he proposes two generic types of system one and system two. System one is fast, responsive, reactive. Who bing? King Charles I. When Bing? 1632. Where bing? On a boat on the English Channel. Really good for quiz. Chose really good for the pub quiz. But the workplace is neither of these. It's not about speed in answering. In the workplace, system two, thinking is different. It's more thoughtful, more considered, more reflective in nature. It's not about coming up with the answer. It's about coming up with an answer, and then another answer, and then yet another answer. Always looking for that better answer that provides a better solution to the issue that you're considering.

Let me deviate for a moment. I'd just like to talk to you about vampires. You may be aware that vampires generally live in castles in Transylvania, only coming out in the evening to howl at the full moon. But actually there's something else about vampires that you may not know. A little known fact that vampires don't see a reflection in a mirror. If I was with my best buddy, who's a vampire, we could take a selfie of ourselves. But if we happen to be standing inside, in front of a big mirror, what I could do is take a photograph of ourselves. The reflection, the mirror. This is what the photograph would look like. You wouldn't see my buddy. He's no reflection.

Now, over the centuries, the vampires have changed their ways. They've adapted. They now live in our cities and in our towns. They walk along the high streets with us. They've learned to hide their characteristics that gave them away in the past. There is only one place that a vampire will show their true colours, and that is in workplace meetings. Because when somebody asks an important question that needs some deep thinking, they will not reflect. They will answer straight away. They are system one responders to a system two question. I'm sure you've seen it, something difficult, but it's how quickly can you get your answer in there? They are the vampires.

That's what I call vampire thinking, and it's probably quite prevalent in your workplace. Now, a disclaimer here. You've got to be careful. It isn't politically correct to drive a stake through somebody's heart in a meeting. There is an alternative approach. You can use this symbol that if you pose an important question that requires a bit of thinking when you've posed it, just say, would you all mind just taking 10 seconds of silence to think about it before you speak. Because those vampire thinkers, the system one thinkers, they'll come up with the idea straight away, but they hold it back because you've told them not to speak. And they'll come up with a second idea, and then they'll come up with an even better third idea. By holding them back, you've converted them from system one thinkers into system two thinkers.

So try this technique. Ask for 10 seconds of silence in meetings. But what else can you do if brainstorming doesn't work in meetings and you've got to hold regular meetings? Are there any alternative approaches? A lot of our meetings have a regular cadence. They are weekly, two, weekly, monthly. An alternate approach is to use something called proactive procrastination. Wait, isn't that a paradox? How can you proactively put something off?

Well, rather than say, in the next meeting, we're going to do a brainstorming session on this topic. Now, we all know that brainstormings aren't the best places to do our thinking, and we also know that we do our best thinking in our own special spaces. Rather than say, that's what's going to happen at the end of one meeting, you can simply say, this is the important question that we want to consider. Now, I'd like you all to think about this in the space until the next meeting, because during that time, a lot of us are actually doing hybrid working.

At the moment, we have time at home. Why not take half an hour off at that time and take your dog for a walk? And take your issue with you. Take yourself for a walk. Just take your issue for a walk. Because you know that might be where you do your best thinking. If it's an important issue, it's worthy of your valuable thinking time. So know where and when your best time is, and take your issue into that time.

And then at the start of the next meeting, you can just give your best ideas. You're not doing the actual thinking there. You're just presenting the ideas where you can discuss them and actually build on them and develop them into something tangible for you to deliver. This brings us to the end of our brain operating system upgrade. And if you adopt and embrace some of these opportunities for your thinking, you'll find you're able to address bigger, bolder questions and to answer them in a better way, in a way that will disrupt your normal thinking, to change the world around you for yourself, but also for the world of those around you as well.

So this is the end of our freaky thinking upgrade. We must now exit the application. And I just hope that from this day on, your thinking is never the same again. Thank you.

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