Long work interruptions are usually seen as detrimental, causing losses in productivity as operations grind to a halt. But when a fire at a supplier’s factory forced a temporary shutdown at the plant of a large European manufacturer of consumer goods, Hamburg University of Technology’s Tim Schweisfurth and a colleague—Anne Greul, then a doctoral student at the Technical University of Munich—found a surprising upside: The idleness led to an outpouring of ideas for improvements. The conclusion: Unexpected interruptions can boost creativity.
Unexpected Interruptions Can Boost Creativity
Our minds can keep working on a task when we step away from it.
Summary.
Researchers discovered a silver lining when a fire at a supplier’s factory forced a temporary shutdown at the plant of a consumer goods manufacturer: The downtime led to a flood of employee ideas for improvements.
A version of this article appeared in the November–December 2023 issue of Harvard Business Review.
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