The Productivity Illusion

Trying to resolve things too quickly, especially for complex problems, is detrimental to innovation because you fall prey to premature closure. And resistance to premature closure — a key aspect of creativity — is our ability to keep an open mind when we already have a potential solution.

While mantras like “move fast and break things” can help push people towards action, they can backfire when the underlying problem is complex. In such situations, urging the team to keep searching for more ideas can lead to more innovative and far-reaching solutions.