I believe in the quiet of our mind dwells some of our best testing ideas waiting to be heard.
As I was pumping gas into my car, a TV monitor at the pump started up with information I had no interest in hearing. I couldn’t find a way to shut off the at-the-pump-tv and I was annoyed that I wasn’t given the option.
Have we become afraid of silence?
This partial quote from an old Counting Crows song reminds me of testing. “…if you’ve never stared off into the distance then your life’s a shame…”
Testing without contemplative thinking is probably missing something too. Often the best analytical thinking I do is when I’m still. And it’s quiet.
Is the reason so many people discover good ideas in their morning shower because those few minutes are some of the only time of the day noise isn’t filling their environment and head?
I suppose this is a rant … ironic as I sit in my office in silence writing this, I am convinced that in the quiet of the day our best ideas may be drowned out. Don’t get me wrong, I listen to an iPod on trains and planes but fairly often I opt for no noise.
I need a lot of white space in my life, time to reflect, time to be still after events and talking to people. In the quiet uncluttered margins of life, I think we can find a lot of value and good testing ideas. But to find it, we have to be comfortable with silence.