In the relentless pace of business today, the pressure to produce, perform, and deliver is intense. Leaders and teams alike are being stretched to their limits in the name of output-but at what cost?

The most progressive businesses are beginning to challenge this old model. They’re realising that the real driver of sustainable, high growth isn’t just about doing more-it’s about creating space. Space for boredom. Space for play. Space for the vital in-between moments where deep thinking happens and breakthrough ideas form.

Creativity isn’t a “nice to have”-it’s fast becoming a strategic imperative. The organisations that will outpace their competition are those brave enough to design for rest, reflection, and experimentation, right at the heart of their operations.

Boredom: A High-Growth Signal, Not a Weakness

When boredom creeps in, it’s easy to view it as disengagement. But it’s far more valuable than that-it’s a signal. A cue from the brain to seek new stimulation, to connect dots, and to restore meaning.

Rather than fighting boredom with more busywork or digital distractions, high growth leaders harness it. That mental “drift” activates the brain’s Default Mode Network-the very system that underpins problem-solving, idea formation, and pattern recognition.

Workplaces are often quick to chase efficiency, but neuroscience tells a different story: we spend nearly half of our waking hours thinking about things unrelated to the task at hand. That’s not inefficiency-it’s creative processing. It’s where insight lives.

Start by protecting short windows of “thinking time” in your diary-moments free of emails, screens, and tasks. Encourage your teams to do the same. It’s not procrastination. It’s capacity building. And in a culture still too often obsessed with visible productivity, this is a radical-and necessary-shift.

Play: The Engine of Leadership and Innovation

In a work culture that prizes professionalism and results, the concept of “play” can feel misplaced. But make no mistake: play is serious business.

Structured play-through design thinking exercises, prototyping, role-reversal sessions, or gamified strategy meetings-doesn’t diminish outcomes. It enhances them. It drives collaboration, deepens empathy, and improves leadership agility.

It also directly addresses a growing challenge in companies: disengagement. With only a fraction of employees describing themselves as truly engaged at work, integrating moments of exploration and play can restore motivation and unlock collective intelligence.

Here’s how to start: choose two routine team meetings per month and redesign them to centre on play-based problem-solving. These might involve creative constraints, physical modelling exercises, or team challenges that force new perspectives. Then, track the impact. What’s the quality of ideas? Are teams more energised? The results often speak for themselves.

Liminal Space: The Strategic Power of In-Between

Professionals now switch tasks every 47 seconds on average-a staggering drop from every three minutes just two decades ago. This relentless pace leaves no room for clarity, creativity, or the kind of thinking that fuels real transformation.

Liminal space-the time between defined activities or project cycles-is where much of the real work happens. It’s where integration occurs, where lessons settle, and where the brain gets a chance to digest and reframe.

High-growth companies are now actively designing these spaces. They’re introducing no-meeting windows. They’re mapping task-switching velocity. They’re ensuring their teams can work deeply, not just react constantly.

In the UK, where presenteeism still subtly dominates many boardrooms, this is an urgent priority. It’s not enough to tell people to “take breaks” or “go offline.” Leaders must model it-and operationalise it.

Redefining Productivity for Sustainable Growth

Businesses face an undeniable economic challenge from burnout. The cost isn’t just human-it’s financial, with billions lost each year to stress-related absences, turnover, and disengagement.

Worse, many workplaces are caught in what’s known as “productivity theatre”-where employees perform busyness without adding real value. And while they appear productive, they’re running on empty.

The future of high growth belongs to those who take a stand against this cycle.

Start with a simple “play audit” at your next strategy session. Where in your operations could rest or experimentation add more value than more effort? Where are your people most stretched-and how could you create restorative gaps in their week?

Whether it’s a 30-minute thinking break or a redesigned team workshop, these shifts are small but powerful. They reinforce a culture where creativity is seen not as a perk-but as performance infrastructure.