The best companies in the world should be the smartest, right? Amazingly, many organizations continue to believe in myths that have been debunked for ages.

Tackling some of the most destructive corporate myths is the topic of a new post from the Harvard Business Review. Blogger Tony Schwartz lists four:

Myth #1: Multitasking is critical in a world of infinite demand.

Myth #2: A little bit of anxiety helps us perform better.

Myth #3: Creativity is genetically inherited, and it’s impossible to teach.

Myth #4: The best way to get more work done is to work longer hours.

Schwartz is correct on two counts: not only are all of these false statements, but there is widespread belief in these incorrect ideas. But it’s not as if these are new to us here at The Methodology Blog. We just ran a post designed to debunk multitasking. We’ve talked candidly about working longer hours. We’ve taken on the issues with deadline anxiety. And it seems like half of our posts are about how to be more creative at work, even if you don’t feel like a creative person!

Myths (like the unicorn above) can be attractive. If it really was possible to do two things at once, surely we could get more done. If creativity was truly genetic, then we wouldn’t feel so guilty about our lack of inspiration. But these corporate myths are totally false. Not only have they been handily disproven by science, they are easy to reject through clear thinking and honest self-reflection.

Is your organization operating on an assumption that might just turn out to be another corporate myth? If you’re unhappy, exhausted, frustrated or unproductive, this just might be the case. Learn more about how to work smarter. Contact Slaughter Development today!

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