Outcomes may be measured on a quantitative scale and referred to as productivity the amount of outcomes per unit of time
- I use the term “intellectual productivity” differently, but it is often used this way in the world.
Let’s call creativity the amount of value created in a unit of time by creating something that does not yet exist in the world.
- Newer items are difficult to estimate value in advance
- Value becomes apparent in posterior after it is produced.
There is a trade-off relationship between this productivity and creativity.
- If you want to increase productivity
- It is more efficient to focus on what is already of obvious value rather than on what is of unclear value
- If you can achieve the same one unit of results, it’s better to focus on something less labor intensive.
- In other words, “it is better to repeat at high speed the easy tasks that are obvious to produce results.”
- This mindset lowers creativity.
- Because they don’t create anything new.
This is exactly what trade-offs between use and exploration looks like. The undermining of creativity by the introduction of quantitative measures is also related to [No numerical criteria should be used to evaluate researchers.
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