On Repeat: Does Iteration Drive Innovation?
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arXiv
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1866910036618379264 |
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| author | Kagan, Evgeny Jost, Christian Lieberum, Tobias Schiffels, Sebastian |
| author_facet | Kagan, Evgeny Jost, Christian Lieberum, Tobias Schiffels, Sebastian |
| contents | Motivated by the widespread adoption of iterative project management techniques, we study the effects of workflow -- iterative or sequential -- on innovative behavior and performance. We conduct a series of laboratory experiments. Our first experiment shows that, in an open-ended creative challenge, iterative task completion leads to better outcomes than sequential task completion. In the second experiment we show that the advantage of iterative workflow further extends to innovation settings that do not involve idea generation. A key mechanism driving the advantage of iterative work is that it leads to frequent task switching, prompting workers to perform a broader search for the best available solution. In the third experiment we delve deeper into the search process and show that sequential work indeed leads to more myopic idea refinement behaviors, often ending in a (suboptimal) local maximum. Our results suggest that iterative workflow improves performance across multiple, structurally distinct innovation settings. We also identify three boundary conditions. First, iterative workflow helps achieve quick gains, but its performance advantage narrows over time. Therefore, workflow effects are stronger when balanced performance across project components is required, but weaker when excellence in one component can offset poor performance in others. Second, workflow has minimal effect on performance in tasks that do not require the worker to perform broad exploration. Third, workflow effects are minimal when workers complete the easier component first. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_00722 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | On Repeat: Does Iteration Drive Innovation? Kagan, Evgeny Jost, Christian Lieberum, Tobias Schiffels, Sebastian General Economics Economics 91C99 J.4 Motivated by the widespread adoption of iterative project management techniques, we study the effects of workflow -- iterative or sequential -- on innovative behavior and performance. We conduct a series of laboratory experiments. Our first experiment shows that, in an open-ended creative challenge, iterative task completion leads to better outcomes than sequential task completion. In the second experiment we show that the advantage of iterative workflow further extends to innovation settings that do not involve idea generation. A key mechanism driving the advantage of iterative work is that it leads to frequent task switching, prompting workers to perform a broader search for the best available solution. In the third experiment we delve deeper into the search process and show that sequential work indeed leads to more myopic idea refinement behaviors, often ending in a (suboptimal) local maximum. Our results suggest that iterative workflow improves performance across multiple, structurally distinct innovation settings. We also identify three boundary conditions. First, iterative workflow helps achieve quick gains, but its performance advantage narrows over time. Therefore, workflow effects are stronger when balanced performance across project components is required, but weaker when excellence in one component can offset poor performance in others. Second, workflow has minimal effect on performance in tasks that do not require the worker to perform broad exploration. Third, workflow effects are minimal when workers complete the easier component first. |
| title | On Repeat: Does Iteration Drive Innovation? |
| topic | General Economics Economics 91C99 J.4 |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.00722 |