Counterintuitively, I've found having a kid helped unlock game-changing work results.

Before having a kid, work feels like everything.

It feels existentially important, like failure would be death.

After having a kid, being a good parent is self-evidently more important.

So work feels less existential, so there's less tail risk to you, which makes it easier to take risks, which makes it easier to optimize for serendipity, which leads to better work results.