In ~1495, Leonardo da Vinci invented the ‘robotic knight,’ brought to life centuries later by NASA ... More for use in space missions. Good ideas take time. Houston Chronicle Around 1495, Leonardo da Vinci invented the ‘robotic knight,’ a humanoid machine powered by pulleys, gears and cables. Centuries later, NASA engineers used his ideas to develop the Anthrobot, a dexterous robotic hand for space missions. Da Vinci’s work wasn’t just ahead of its time—it endured because it was built on deep thought, patience, and precision. Yet today, patience is in short supply. We don’t have centuries. We don’t even have five minutes. Work is optimized for efficiency, knowledge is expanding at an exponential rate, and artificial intelligence is accelerating everything—workflows, decision-making, expectations. But what if, in our rush to be first, we’re running in the wrong direction? What if slowing down isn’t a relic of the past but the foundation of the future? The Bias Toward Action And Why Standing Still Is Sometimes Smarter A soccer goalkeeper facing a penalty kick has the highest chance of blocking the ball if they stay in the center. But they almost never do. In 94% of cases, they dive left or right—not because it’s the best strategy, but because standing still feels wrong. It feels passive. It feels like giving up. Business works the same way. We reward action, busyness, and the illusion of progress. Slowing down, pausing to think, or questioning assumptions feels like falling behind. Yet, history suggests otherwise. Newton formulated gravity while sitting under an apple tree. Einstein’s theory of relativity emerged from staring out a window. Steve Jobs took long walks to think through his most pivotal decisions. The instinct to move fast is human. But in times of disruption, reflection is not a luxury—it’s a competitive advantage. The leaders who thrive in the AI era won’t be the ones who react the fastest, but the ones who stand still long enough to see clearly. Instead of asking, “What’s next?” we should be asking, “What actually matters?” The balance between motion and progress has never been more important. MORE FOR YOU Microsoft Confirms $1.50 Windows Security Update Hotpatch Fee Starts July 1 Microsoft Confirms Password Spraying Attack — What You Need To Know Google’s Gmail Upgrade—Why You Need To Change Your App The Productivity Paradox: More Speed, Less Thinking In the early 2000s, Nokia was the world’s leading mobile phone company. It was also one of the most efficient. Their R&D teams worked at breakneck speed, churning out new models every few months. But in their obsession with iteration, they missed the real revolution: the shift from hardware to software. Meanwhile, Apple moved slower—but with greater intention. In 2007, Steve Jobs walked onstage, pulled an iPhone out of his pocket, and changed everything. Speed is seductive. Multitasking feels productive. But constant task-switching kills up to 40% of our productivity. The faster we work, the less we think. The more we produce, the less we understand. Even the best performers in the world know that winning isn’t about doing everything at once—it’s about focus. Tennis legend Roger Federer, who won only 54% of his career points, understood this deeply. With such a significant chance of losing any single point, you learn to let go of each point once it’s played. After all, it’s just a point.“This mindset is really crucial,” he told Dartmouth graduates, “because it frees you to fully commit to the next point and the next point after that, with intensity, clarity, and focus.” In work, as in sports, success isn’t about reacting to everything at once—it’s about focus and choosing the right moment to act. Working Smarter Is the Real Productivity Hack In 1930, economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that by now, we’d all be working 15-hour weeks. Technology, he believed, would make us so productive that we’d have little left to do. He was half right. Productivity soared. The average American work week shrank from 50 hours in 1930 to 34 hours today. But instead of working less, we feel busier than ever. The reason? The nature of work has changed. Knowledge work has no clear start or stop, blurring the line between office and life. Productivity expectations have skyrocketed, squeezing more output into fewer hours. Digital tools have made work faster but also more relentless. We check emails before bed, respond to Slack messages on weekends, and sit through meetings that spill past the workday. In short, our work has filled the space we’ve created. Working less feels like a far away dream, but look at the four-day workweek. Despite fears of lost productivity, companies that have adopted it report the opposite: more output, better creativity, happier employees. The reason? Constraints force clarity. Less time makes us prioritize what truly matters. And creativity doesn’t thrive in chaos—it thrives in white space. Ironically, our best thinking often happens when the mind has time to wander. AI is making work faster and cramming more into our schedules, when what we really need it to do is carve out empty spaces where our most important work—deep thinking, big ideas, human creativity—can happen. If we can use AI to achieve this, maybe we can finally work smarter and less. The Slow Art of Breakthrough Thinking In a world obsessed with speed, some of history’s greatest masterpieces were born from slowness. Leonardo da Vinci spent years perfecting his inventions, dissecting cadavers to study anatomy before painting, and revising ideas until they matched his vision. He once wrote, “Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer.” It took him 16 years to paint the Mona Lisa. James Cameron waited over a decade for technology to catch up before making Avatar. Einstein’s theory of relativity wasn’t the product of a deadline, but of years of thought experiments and quiet contemplation. Great breakthroughs don’t come from ceaseless motion, but from deep stillness—the kind that allows an idea to take root, unfold, and endure. But modern work culture prioritizes speed. Action is more valued than reflection. Decisions are made in meetings stacked back to back, ideas are rushed to market, and reflection is often seen as a luxury. The instinct in times of rapid change is to move even faster, yet research suggests the opposite approach leads to better outcomes. In fact, measurably better: teams that take time to reflect perform 23% better than those who don’t. But reflection isn’t built into most workplaces. Slowing down feels to many like wasted time, when in reality, it strengthens judgment, improves decision-making, and fuels more sustainable success. Precisely because AI is accelerating the pace of work, we need more time to assess complex problems from all angles and consider diverse points of view, not less. We need time to think critically, assess risk, and make sound decisions. In an AI-driven future, we can’t afford to be paralyzed—but neither can we afford to rush blindly. The real advantage lies in knowing when to slow down and shift gears—balancing action with reflection, urgency with patience, and certainty with doubt. Da Vinci didn’t rush to finish paintings. He studied light, anatomy, and movement for years before lifting his brush. He sketched thousands of ideas before committing to a final design. He believed that true mastery required patience. AI can create an image in seconds, but it can’t reproduce the depth of the Mona Lisa’s smile. AI will keep mindlessly accelerating, but wisdom still takes time. The leaders who shape the future won’t simply keep pace, but will know when to keep still. The true depth and nuance of human intuition and intelligence is knowing when to wait, when to observe, when to decide. The future belongs to those who slow down. Follow me on LinkedIn. Check out my website. Editorial StandardsForbes Accolades