Rules of Thinking, The

RULE 61

You’re better together

My father-in-law was a brilliant ideas person. If I was looking for suggestions for any kind of scheme, work or home, I often used to pick his brains. Once we started talking about things, the ideas would flow from both of us and I always found it hugely productive. At the end of the conversation, I would sometimes say to him, ‘If anything else occurs to you later, give me a shout.’ To which he would invariably reply, ‘It won’t.’

I have to say, in all the years I knew him, he was right. He never called me later to say, ‘I’ve had another thought … ’ He wasn’t trying to be difficult, he just knew how his own mind worked. He thought best by sparking ideas off other people, and any idea that hadn’t arisen during ...