There was an interesting article about a closely related subject, but I can't find it anymore. Basically, there's a dichotomy between 2 different kinds of work

There was an interesting article about a closely related subject, but I can't find it anymore. Basically, there's a dichotomy between 2 different kinds of work: Convergent vs Emergent. In "Convergent" work you are delivering what a market has asked for. You are measured on meeting these requirements with accuracy, speed, cost. Predictability of outcomes is paramount, schedules are everything, people expect to be able to control all variables. By contrast, in "Emergent" work, you are effectively creating a market. You introduce something that hasn't existed before and which isn't merely a tweak in an existing product. The outcome of Emergent work is new ways of doing things, new products, and new resources. This introduces a lot of "grey area" and lack of focus. The most successful enterprises find the right balance between Convergent and Emergent work. In manufacturing (my domain), most initiatives are Convergent and expectations focus on meeting some deadline or numeric goal, literally everything else is subordinate to that. Start-ups, of course, have the opposite inclination. In those, a "runway of money" is burnt to introduce some potentially new product with only vague expectations of profit at some time in the future (despite whatever they tell VC's). You sort of need both in an organization and staff (as a whole) need to assimilate both types of work to really succeed.