Hype Escaping Velocity

Tech leaders spend too much time either chasing every new buzzword or never trying anything new, and both extremes erode real progress. The core insight is that sustainable innovation requires three kinds of balance: time, people, and project scope. By treating innovation as a scheduled, measured activity rather than a performative stunt, leaders keep the backlog clean and only pursue ideas that survive a month of scrutiny.

The article breaks down practical ways to create that balance. Time balance means allocating regular slots for experimentation and rejecting hackathon-style flash projects. People balance involves assigning experiments to specific teams, letting them iterate and share learnings before scaling. Project balance means coloring an entire project with a new approach instead of letting a single engineer experiment in isolation, ensuring collaboration and cross-team visibility.

When leaders apply these three balances, they avoid the hype loop that leads to wasted effort, short-lived results, and morale loss. The result is a healthier innovation pipeline that delivers tangible value and keeps teams focused on what truly matters.