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Think Better, Not Faster: The Science of Pausing for Innovation and Growth

4 November 2025/in Change & Transformation, Innovation, Workplace Psychology/by Sarah Clarke

In a world that celebrates productivity, it’s easy to mistake motion for progress. How often do you take a breath or pause at work? Innovation happens when we deliver something new and useful to our customers, organisation or even society as a whole. But with innovation constantly declining, how can pausing help us innovate faster?

Think about your average week at work. . . .meetings roll into more meetings, inboxes refill faster than they empty, and reflection feels like a rare luxury.

For psychologists, leaders, and anyone guiding people through change, there is a growing scientific evidence that pause, which is a deliberate, reflective space, is not wasted time. In fact, it is this time to think which is the birthplace of creativity, clarity, and sustainable innovation (Kline, 1999).

When Doing Less Creates More

The paradox of creativity is that our best ideas often emerge when we stop trying to have them. Stepping away from active problem-solving allows the mind to reorganise information, draw unexpected connections, and reveal insights that relentless focus can obscure.

Scientists refer to this as incubation. It is a recognised stage in the creative process first described by Graham Wallas in 1926 and now well supported by neuroscience research.

During incubation, the brain quietly continues to process information beneath our awareness, in our subconscious. It explains why solutions appear in the shower, or clarity strikes whilst we are on a quiet walk. We may not look like we are doing anything. However, this does not mean we have stopped thinking. In fact, it is because we’ve stopped forcing ourselves to think, that we allow our brains to really think.

Ask yourself, where am I when I have my best ideas? For some it may be on walks, for others in the bath, the shower or even in the gym. Giving our brains time to pause and think, deeply and subconsciously, is crucial. Yet why do organisations seem to promote motion for progress?

Tomorrow, many HR leaders, people experts and inspiring leaders and experts will be descending on the CIPD Conference 2025, aptly focusing on championing people to transform work. Our Co-Founder, Sarah Clarke, is supporting the Semper Hopkins team to deliver 6 interactive sessions we call the Creative Pause in the Relax & Rewind area of the conference but this is about anything but relaxing and rewinding. This is about helping people use the power of their brain to become more innovative, more productive and improve their own, and others, well-being through creativity and allowing time to think.

The Neuroscience Behind the Creative Pause

Our Co-Founder undertook extensive research which transformed her misconceptions and understanding of creativity whilst completing her MSc dissertation. One element is that creativity is not down to a single area of the brain. Current research shows there is not a single “creative region” of the brain that sparks ideas, but it is the interaction between three key networks which drives creative thoughts in our brains. These are referred to as:

The Default Mode Network (DMN), which is active when we daydream or reflect inwardly, responsible for imagination and association thoughts.
The Executive Control Network (ECN) which is active during focused problem-solving, analysis, and decision-making.
The Salience Network (SN) which acts as a switch, guiding attention between inner reflection and external focus.

Based on studies by Beaty and colleagues (2015 & 2019) research shows that creativity depends on how fluidly we move between these networks. It was based on this research that the creative pause sessions were first designed. Because, focusing on something else, allowing our brain to be creative helps allow this shift.

Fuelling and releasing the brain from the narrow beam of focused attention and enabling it to diffuse and move to more associative thinking that can, and often, fuels originality of thought.

In other words, pausing isn’t doing nothing. It is allowing your brain to do what it does best: integrate, imagine, and make connections. Many of which you will be unaware of, that is until the idea or solution pops into your conscious thought.

During her research, our Co-Founder’s supervisor was Dr Mark Batey, an innovation and creativity guru who worked at the University of Manchester. His seminal research highlighted that creativity doesn’t exist in isolation. In fact, it can operate across four levels. The person, the process, the environment (refereed to as the press) and the product. These levels interact, which makes measuring creativity so difficult as it is vital to decide which lens is being used (Batey, 2012).

This heuristic model focused on the following elements:

The person brings motivation, mindset, and self-belief.
The process involves divergent (idea-generating) and convergent (idea-selecting) thinking.
The press, or environment, either nurtures or constrains creative behaviour and innovation.
The product is what emerges, this can be tangible innovation or a new understanding.

Based on this, the suite of Creative Performance workshops were designed. In addition, our creative pause sessions touch on all four levels within an hour.

Join us to allow yourself time to reconnect with the person, understanding your intrinsic motivations, where we will support you in the process of reflection, and help you understand the elements of the pressures which impeded or fuel creativity and innovation.

As Batey notes, creativity thrives when people feel psychologically safe, valued, and given permission to think differently. The pause, therefore, is as cultural as it is cognitive. How often do you pause to think in your work?

Why Psychologists and Leaders Should Model the Pause

Psychologists and leaders are often at the centre of complexity. That is certainly how the Think Organisation team operate. Every week we are helping teams adapt, shifting cultures, and navigating uncertainties with the businesses we support. Yet constant responsiveness can come at a cost.

When we don’t pause, we lose access to deeper intuition, empathy, and perspective. These are the very capacities that make us effective in human systems. That’s why some of our great thoughts come whilst we are on holiday, well away from the office and constant motion of being at work.

So how can leaders embed creative pauses into their organisational and team cultures?

Embedding pauses into professional and organisational practice isn’t indulgent; it is strategic.

Research shows that reflective time improves problem-solving, boosts wellbeing, and enhances collective learning.

In cultures that reward speed, modelling stillness is an act of ultimate leadership.

Designing the Pause Into Organisational Life

To make the creative pause part of daily practice, Think Organisation recommends small, intentional shifts:

Micro-pauses: Take 5–10 minutes before key decisions or during meetings to ask, What assumptions are we holding? What might we be missing? A quick walk to gain some fresh air is often all the time that is needed.
Reflection rounds: Begin or end meetings with space for sense-making rather than updates.
Thinking time: Schedule undisturbed blocks in calendars and protect them as fiercely as client time. If these are the first elements of time to be sacrificed what does this say about your commitment to innovation?
Creative spaces: Build environments that signal reflection is valued in your organisations. Areas such as quiet zones, promoting walking meetings, off-site thinking days or booking creative performance workshops all empower employees to be more creative.
Model curiosity: Leaders who share their reflective practices give permission for others to pause too.

We know it is difficult, which is why at Think Organisation, we work with leaders who understand that the future of performance is not about doing more, but about thinking better.

Whether you need an ICF accredited executive coach, leadership development or an organisational culture review. The science is clear: creativity, innovation, and resilience all depend on our ability to pause, to step back, connect ideas, and reimagine what’s possible.

So, next time you feel the urge to rush from one task to another, take a breath.

The most important thing you could do might not be the next thing, it might be the pause before it.

Reach out to the Think Organisation for more support. More information about our Creative Performance Workshops can be found here or for your own bespoke onsite solution, reach out.

References

More about Innovation

There’s more about Innovation in this Think Organisation Post: How to Create a Culture of Innovation

Alternatively, copy and paste this link into your browser: https://cortex.clyq.co.uk/how-to-create-a-culture-of-innovation/

Think About Thinking: A Productive New Year Resolution for Leaders

7 January 2025/in Culture, Motivation, Workplace Psychology/by Sarah Clarke

As humans, we think. It’s one of the defining traits of our species. Often, we even think about thinking. What happens when you try not to think? Or someone tells you to ‘clear your mind’?

Thinking is the mental process through which we form ideas, make sense of information, solve problems, and generate new concepts. It is the foundation of human progress. Yet in the workplace, where outcomes are paramount, thinking is often undervalued – because it is so often invisible.

Or is it?

A recent conversation with a client CEO brought this into focus. Before Christmas, they expressed concern that their teams weren’t “working hard enough”. So we unpicked this. Ask yourself – what does it look like to ‘work hard’ versus ‘not work hard’? This client, who supports this post but wants to remain anonymous, said ‘well, they just don’t seem to be doing anything’. ‘Like I saw them all come back from coffee (a team) but they hadn’t actually done anything. Plus some people now work from home more so how so I know they are really working hard?’

What does working hard really mean?

So, have a think. What does working hard truly mean? In our service led economy, if productivity relies heavily on how we think, then as leaders, how do we manage and measure thinking, and it’s value? And how do we harness thinking to set the tone for a more productive and purposeful new year?

Psychologists, and ICF-accredited Executive Coaches, study different types of thinking because it is critical to understanding and supporting organisations, teams and individuals on their journeys. In the workplace, the dilemma is it is often important to ‘look like’ you are doing something and being productive, when in reality thinking is not something we can always see. Unless of course you are hooked up to an MRI whilst you are at work which is unlikely to improve productivity due to the complexity this entails!

Instead, let’s explore three key steps leaders can take to understand better and elevate thinking in their organisations.

Step 1: Spend Time Thinking About Thinking

Take a moment to reflect on your own thinking process.

How do you reason through challenges?
What tools or strategies help you think more effectively?
Think of a time when you struggled to remember something—how did you overcome it?

Thinking isn’t just something we do unconsciously; although the majority of our thoughts will never reach consciousness. It can be an active process that shapes how we interpret experiences, make decisions, and engage with the world. For leaders, understanding different types of thinking can be fundamental in unlocking the drive for productivity in the workplace.

Three examples of how different ways of thinking can add value to organisations:

Critical Thinking: the cognitive process of analysing and evaluating information to make logical, reasoned judgements. This thinking process, or style, is essential for making well-informed decisions and delivering solutions.
Creative Thinking: the process of generating original ideas or innovative or new solutions. This thinking style, if often at the start of the innovation process and is also called divergent thinking. In reality, divergent thinking is one element of creative thinking. Creative thinking often thrives in environments that encourage curiosity and experimentation, and where psychological safety is high.
Reflective Thinking: this style if often one of the most challenging as it involves reviewing and contemplating past experiences or actions to extract learnings and insights. Understanding others’ feedback, and seeing things from different perspectives means reflective thinking is a powerful tool for personal and organisational growth.

While these three types are well-known, Psychologists think there could be multiple types of thinking with many agreeing on 7-9 different thinking styles as a minimum. Each style of thinking plays a role in how individuals and teams navigate challenges and opportunities, especially when there is conflict between the styles.

Back to our client. One example they gave us was when someone had come up with a long list of new ideas and suggestions, and that had infuriated them. However, this came down to the leader’s expectation setting as what they actually needed to solve this problem was to make a decision. Ensuring an understanding of the problem you are trying to solve, and where you are in that process is fundamental to effective and productive thinking.

As we move into a new year, forward-thinking leaders often focus on organisational productivity. Instead of equating visible busyness with effectiveness, there is an opportunity to foster a culture that values thinking too. So what is the second step?

Step 2: Understand the Effort Behind Thinking

Thinking is not effortless. It’s shaped by emotions, behaviours, physiological & psychological states, and the situation at hand. Moreover, individuals often have preferred thinking styles, which can be measured through psychometric tools such as those endorsed by the British Psychological Society (BPS).

But why should leaders care about how their teams think?

Many negative stories occur because of how teams think. Group-think is a common issue for leaders, with social interactions and hierarchies leading to a lack of challenge, innovation and productive thinking. How often have you thought ‘I could have told them that would happen?’ but you didn’t feel safe to share your concerns earlier in the process?

In practice, humans use multiple types of thinking in tandem to solve problems. This interplay drives innovation and productivity. Measuring and understanding how teams and organisations think is growing since the spotlight has turned to collective thinking. That is, how teams collaborate to generate ideas and make decisions. The infamous Post Office Horizon scandal is a cautionary tale of how flawed collective thinking can lead to devastating consequences. History is littered with organisations dying because their thinking was unproductive, lacked innovation and did not successfully solve the problems they faced.

Step 3: Think About The Plan

A plan gives you purpose and direction. This time of year is a great time to reflect on thinking practices which have led to where you, your team and your organisation are. Where were you last year? Where do you want to be next year?

We encourage all leaders to consider making the commitment to embrace thinking as a critical component of leadership and team performance.

To do this, Think Organisation encourages you to:

Focus on Reflection
Build time into team meetings or workflows for reflective thinking. Use the insights to improve processes and strategies.
Foster Creativity
Create environments where team members feel safe to experiment and share ideas without fear of judgement or failure.
Invest in Development
Provide training or resources to help individuals develop their critical and creative thinking skills.
Recognise the Invisible
Celebrate the tangible outputs of work and also the thinking that leads to them.

By prioritising thinking, leaders can unlock greater innovation, engagement, and success in 2025. After all, the future belongs to those who not only do but also take the time to think about how they do it.

Finally, we worked with our client to understand what ‘working hard’ looks like compared to ‘not working hard’. The results are shown below and now formed part of their behavioural frameworks and selection processes going forward.

More about Workplace Psychology

There’s more about Workplace Psychology in this Think Organisation Post: Power Psychology – How to Unlock The Secret of Boardroom Dynamics

Alternatively, copy and paste this link into your browser: https://cortex.clyq.co.uk/power-psychology-how-to-unlock-the-secret-of-boardroom-dynamics/