Hot take: that famous “20% creative time” isn’t a perk for dreamers—it’s a survival buffer.
April 18, 2025
By Kevin McGovern | Organizational Consultant | Leadership Development | Liminal Partners
Do you ever wonder why some companies are “baking a 20% headspace buffer into the schedule” when everyone already feels maxed out?
Spoiler: it isn’t altruism; it’s math. Dominica DeGrandis points out in her book Making Work Visible that setting aside a 20 % capacity buffer quietly enforces an 80% utilization ceiling—the tipping point where wait times snowball.
Why 80%?
Early queuing theory research—yes, in restaurants, banks, and call centers—showed that once a line runs past ~80% utilization, wait times snowball:
70% → 80% Wait nearly doubles
80% → 90% More than doubles again
95% ≈ doubles again; or 5 hours of delay for every hour of real work
99% System flat‑lines
Swap “restaurant order” for:
a maintenance ticket on the factory floor,
an unanswered call in a help center,
A process improvement project overseen by a senior manager, or
A grant application is stuck in a back‑office queue,
and the physics of delay is identical.
What “innovation days” & “20% headspace” really do.
They’re pressure‑release valves that keep core work below that danger zone, absorb surprise work and rework, and give minds the oxygen to invent—not firefight.
Leaders, choose your pain.
Want faster cycle times? Protect the buffer.
Want genuine innovation? Give people room before you beg for big ideas.
Want leaders to balance working in vs. on the system? Mandate 20% headspace on their calendars.
(That 20% is a guidepost, not a straight‑jacket. A product‑design squad might truly need the full slice; frontline support could run with 10%; a senior leader may need 40%+)
Reality check: If your weekdays are booked back‑to‑back—and evenings packed with kids’ games, chores, and email triage—what happens when the car gets a flat? Calm problem‑solving or instant fight‑or‑flight? Teams and families feel the impact and the same overload.
Still, running at 95%+? Stop calling it efficiency—it’s deferred failure.
What’s your buffer? Does the 80% rule resonate in your world?