Written by John Higgins & Anthony Walker
In February 2025, John and his co-researcher Professor Megan Reitz saw the first results of their work on their powerful idea of ‘Spaciousness’ published in the Harvard Business Review . A few months later, the research featured on the front cover of the summer edition of MIT Sloan Management Review. But in many ways, those articles only scratched the surface.
At the heart of their work is a simple but often overlooked truth: our attention is one of our most valuable resources both individually and collectively. And yet, how we use it is rarely intentional. Instead, it’s often shaped by habit… or swept up in a culture that prizes constant busyness, where being busy has quietly become an end in itself.
John and Megan’s research highlights two distinct modes of attention. Both are essential. But right now, one has become so dominant that it’s quietly undermining the quality of our thinking, our conversations, and ultimately our work.
This is the mode most of us operate in day-to-day—focused, task-driven, and oriented towards getting results. It’s about narrowing our attention, solving problems, and moving things forward. It seeks certainty, breaks things down into parts, and often centres on individual performance.
It’s valuable. But it’s overused.
This is quite different. It’s more open, reflective, and unhurried. Instead of narrowing our focus, it expands it—helping us notice patterns, relationships, and the broader context we’re operating in. It allows us to be more present with ourselves and others, and to engage more deeply with what’s actually happening.
And right now, it’s underused.
Their research begun in 2023 and continuing as they develop their forthcoming book with MIT University Press—makes a compelling case: it’s the combination of these two modes that creates the conditions for real flourishing.
When we can move fluidly between Doing and Spacious modes, something shifts. Work becomes less about relentless activity and more about purposeful action. Conversations deepen. Creativity returns. And people feel genuinely connected to the success of the organisation.
This stands in sharp contrast to what many workplaces are currently experiencing, widespread disengagement, reduced creativity, and a sense of going through the motions. Often, this is reinforced by systems and metrics that reward individual output, even when that comes at the expense of collective success.
In their articles, John and Megan begin to explore what leaders and managers can practically do to rebalance these modes, both personally and across their teams. Alongside this, they’re now working with organisations around the world to better understand what it looks like when people who succeed in traditional “Doing Mode” terms are also recognised for their ability to operate in “Spacious Mode.”
