Here's how to come up with your next great idea: Meditate cross-legged, Sip Mai-Tais at a beach picnic, cuddle with your dogs, walk on a lush trail, or visualize an opera house.
At least, those are the scenes where dozens of business leaders get their best thinking done, as they revealed in "Where I Work,"a new LinkedIn photo series featuring work spaces of thought leaders.
Not that you need exotic surroundings to coax out creativity. Lots of LinkedIn "Influencers" find inspiration at traditional desks. Still others rely on whatever temporary space they find themselves in: hotel rooms, economy-class seats, hair salons or kitchen tables.
The concept of mindfulness unites this wide variety of settings. No matter the environment, successful people tailor their surroundings to the specific ways they work.
Read on and take a look at the scenes where business professionals get their best thinking done.
Entrepreneur and Magnate Richard Branson: Surrounded By People
Having colleagues nearby — whether at the beach or in a crypt — means the ideas are always flowing.
When I work I see people. Whether I am at home on Necker Island, or on the move somewhere in the world, there are always other people around, to bounce ideas off of and to provide inspiration.
I have never liked locking myself away in a separate office, or spending long periods alone to work out plans. That has continued from the days when we ran Student Magazine out of a crypt in London with people coming and going as they pleased, to now when we have many different companies around the globe.
Energy Investor T. Boone Pickens: Three Decades of Deals at One Desk
I've had the same desk since the 1980s, and it has seen billions of dollars come and go. It's been with me in this particular Dallas office since 1996. You're looking at a very messy desk. I need to spend another weekend here catching up and cleaning it off.
I'm particularly fond of the carved wood box at the bottom right of this picture. It celebrates my connections to Oklahoma State University. It was carved by a good friend of mine, another OSU grad, Walt Garrison, the famous Dallas Cowboys running back.In the bottom left is a calendar I use to score my daily workouts. Over my shoulder is a Bloomberg terminal. I've made - and lost - billions of dollars watching that screen.
Journalist Herb Greenberg: The Best Seat in the House
I sit smack in the middle of the newsroom in an environment that at times is electric; other times, crazy; at no time good for concentration. This is my desk at CNBC. It is hard not to be impressed with CNBC's newsroom/studio, which is the size of an airplane hangar.
Live TV is always happening. I have four computer screens and one TV screen. One screen is devoted entirely to my stocks monitor. Another is email. The other two are work screens with various (often way too many) web browsers open.
And my view is straight out -- seeing everything that goes on in the newsroom. I've been known to scream toward the set during a live show if I disagree with something somebody says!
Inspirational Leader Deepak Chopra: The Office as an Extension of Myself
Your work is an act of worship; and that's why both of my main headquarters embody the principles of healing. These principles have guided me throughout my life.
I began my career as a medical doctor and soon became aware that if you looked only at a person as their body you might sometimes treat the illness, but you never evoke healing from within. My career spontaneously extended into first mind-body healing and then expanded into the realms of spirituality, personal relationships, social interactions, and environment; all as components of the healing process.
As my career broadened into holistic healing, I began to realize that my workplace should embody the principles that went into healing in its broadest sense.
CEO Jeff Weiner: I'll Take Walking 1:1s Over Office Meetings Any Day
This is the view behind our office in Mountain View, Calif., when walking along the Shoreline bike path. It's now my preferred venue for 1:1 meetings.
I started doing walking meetings early last year at the suggestion of a colleague who used them as a means to reduce meeting room scheduling issues while getting some exercise at the same time. It's energizing to get outside for a 30 minute walk a few times a day.
In addition to the obvious fitness benefits, this meeting format essentially eliminates distractions, so I find it to be a much more productive way to spend time.
Click Here for Full Slideshow 'Where LinkedIn's Top Influencers Work'
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