Kent Beck, the creator of extreme programming, recalled this parable about creativity and creating room for ideas.
Ideas are like little mice running around and poking its head around to see if it’s safe to come out. If you are welcoming to the first mouse that pokes out, then it’ll go back and tell all of its friends that it is ok to come out and explore. However, if you are threatening to the mouse, it will run back into its hole and tell all the other mice to stay back.
How many times do we stop exploration in the heat of the moment in order to achieve a short term goal? I’ve limited creativity for production quotas, and, looking back, it feels less fulfilling. It’s always a rush to gets a feature shipped, but it’s more satisfying to get to work on something really innovative. It’s ok to have a little chaos for new ideas to flourish. Let those mice run around, shelter them, and watch them grow.