Inspirational dreams

Managers may be shocked to learn that workers admit to having their best ideas in bed. Of 1010 people poled in a survey, one third claim their brains go into overdrive in bed.

Nearly 70 per cent of those canvassed in the British survey consider themselves "ideas" people. One in five 25- to 34-year-olds polled said they had their best ideas at work.

So why aren't all employees having great ideas in the work place?

"These new results illustrate how our minds are often most creative when we relax and take time away from everyday pressures," says British psychology professor Richard Wiseman. "Also, in our dreams we produce unusual combinations of ideas that can seem surreal, but every once in a while result in an amazingly creative solution to an important problem.

"To fully reap the rewards of a creative mind people's brains need to be primed for a new way of thinking. Managers must therefore foster new approaches if they want to get the most out of their employees."

The survey was produced by the East of England Development Agency.