Why Waste Isn’t Always Bad—How Embracing 'Waste' Sparks Innovation

The human instinct to avoid waste is strong—a lunch uneaten, a craft abandoned, an hour unproductive can trigger real discomfort. But history and evolutionary biology show that innovation often arises from chaos, excess, and failed attempts. Nature produces thousands of seeds so that a handful survive and thrive, not because of efficiency but because diversity breeds success.

In science and technology, almost every breakthrough can be traced to time or resources 'wasted'—from weird experiments to side projects and unlikely collaborations. Digital abundance has only amplified this: with storage, processing power, and distribution costs near zero, letting people try, fail, and share widely creates a rich experimentation bed for the next big thing.

That’s how YouTube’s early 'crap videos' became a laboratory for new types of entertainment. Even inefficient, sprawling searches can surface hidden gold. Embracing waste means leaning into unpredictability, scheduling some room for creative chaos, and reviewing results with an open mind. Behavioral science suggests scheduled serendipity reliably outperforms rigid control in fields that thrive on new ideas.

This week, spot one area where you usually try to control everything—then give yourself permission to play or create without any pressure to achieve. Schedule 30 minutes for unstructured, even 'wasteful' exploration, like reading, writing, or tinkering. Don't judge, just let ideas roam. Afterwards, see if you notice anything new or surprising; jot down the fresh connections or tricks you stumbled on. Sometimes, what feels like waste at first is simply growth in disguise.