By Alex Bottner

A Day Without Headphones

When Sir John Hegarty came in and gave us a masterclass, he told us that creatives should be sponges. We should take out our headphones and soak in the conversations around us. You’ll never know what you could be inspired by or what could lead to a human insight.

He told us of how Paul Smith found the inspiration for the charm buttons on his suit jackets when his flight was delayed in Milan. While everyone else was on their phones, Paul went for a walk around the airport. He spotted a charm from a bracelet on the floor, picked it up, and thought they would look good on a suit jacket. Boom. Million pound idea.

Today, I kept my headphones in my backpack. I’d like to say that I was on the hunt for a million pound idea, but to be honest, I was too lazy to wear them. How sad.

My observations? The tube was pretty much silent, except for an Aussie couple who were making plans to get facials. They both had glowing complexions.

When I was working in a cafe, I overheard a woman telling her friend about her work dilemmas. I didn’t fully get what was going on, but it sounded juicy.

At the gym, the guy next to me on the elliptical was belting off key to Diana Ross, while the woman next to him managed to carry an entire conversation on the phone while working out. I know there has to be a funny ad in here somewhere. If I had had my headphones on, I would have never gotten a Diana Ross show. Right in my right ear.

I can’t say that I found my million pound idea today, but who knows if it will come in handy somewhere down the line?