Habits are praised as the foundation of success. Build good habits, repeat them daily, and results will follow. In personal development, this often works, but in organizations, it’s more complicated.
When processes become habitual, they stop being questioned. Teams do things “because that’s how it’s always been done.” What once was a smart solution becomes an unquestioned routine. Over time, habits turn into invisible rules.
Innovation requires friction, it requires stopping and asking why. Habits do the opposite, they remove friction, speed things up, and reduce cognitive effort. That’s great for stability, but terrible for evolution.
The most dangerous habits aren’t bad ones. They’re successful ones. Because success reinforces repetition, and repetition discourages change. Growth doesn’t come from perfect habits alone, it comes from knowing when to break them.