Anti-Optimization Research Institute · Est. 2018
Foundation for Deliberate Slowness.
Serious academic and professional study of doing things slowly on purpose.
The Foundation for Deliberate Slowness conducts research into the theory and practice of intentional deceleration. We are not opposed to productivity. We are opposed to the assumption that faster is always better, that optimization is always the goal, and that the pace of any activity should be limited only by what is technically possible.
We publish research. We certify practitioners. We advocate for slowness in organizational and institutional settings. Our annual report is completed months before it is published. This is not an oversight. It is the practice.
Read Our Research →Current Research Areas
The Productivity Cost of Productivity Culture
A 10-year longitudinal study examining whether organizations that prioritize productivity metrics over other values achieve better outcomes than those that do not. Preliminary findings suggest the relationship is more complicated than productivity culture assumes. We are taking our time with the analysis.
Slow Decision-Making and Outcome Quality
An examination of decision quality as a function of decision speed. Most decisions benefit from additional time. We are documenting how much time, across which decision types, and what the returns to additional deliberation look like at various margins.
The Attention Economics of Slowness
What is the relationship between pace and attention? When we do things slowly on purpose, what do we notice that we would otherwise miss? We have been working on this paper for three years. We believe we are getting closer.