Even though productivity has been rising slowly in the last few years, America still tops the international league table for productivity. Why is this? Well, possibly the most significant reasons are: Firstly, America is a high-tech country. It leads the way in software development , and probably still in hardware design. America therefore implements new technologies as an
There are thousands of articles, book - even blog posts - promising you the Top 5 (or 6 or 21) secrets to productivity. However, I have disappointing news.. There is no one secret, no magic bullet, no productivity panacea. Improving productivity takes real commitment - from the leaders of the organisation and infused throughout the organisation
I am slightly sceptical about the great productivity gains suggested for AI. I hope I am wrong but I think it may take quite some time before the ‘intelligence’ of AI gives solid results. That is not to say that AI will not bring benefits, such as productivity improvements, only that we should not expect too much
Many employees, when asked in job satisfaction surveys, express the view that they are constantly tired and often under stress. Even in organisations with standard work hours, employees are increasingly expected to be available during evenings, weekends, and vacations. Now a degree of stress can be helpful in motivating and focusing employees but too much
It is apparent that many people gained a fresh perspective on their own lives during the pandemic. They now want the mix of home and work life they enjoyed when forced to stay out of the office. I have written enough about my view of home and hybrid working - and its impact on the
I wrote a week ago about the danger of thinking that (productivity) improvement is always about increasing speed. I thought this week about an example that sums this up quite nicely. I went recently to a performance by a small group of classical musicians - playing a variety of materials from several composers. (This
I have talked here before about the danger in concentrating on speed of operation as the primary focus of improvement efforts. It can, for example mean a drop in quality…. and it can mean a team or line becomes unbalanced. What we should try to do is to improve the speed of an entire unit or
Sometimes when looking at problems or searching for innovation, it is a handicap to have too much knowledge of the context of the problem. For example, if you give the problem of spanning a river to a bridge-builder, you will get a bridge as the solution. It might be a great-looking bridge and/or one with little
I don’t like aphorisms such as “There are no problems, only opportunities”. This Is sometimes true but is so vague as to encompass real problems and disasters which require being treated as such, Can you imagine, "Houston, We have an opportunity."? However, I have identified one such problem/opportunity arising from the growth of remote and hybrid working
If you work in an environment where everyone is busy and working hard you will tend to work hard yourself. There will be fewer distractions and your work level will be visible to others. At break time, you can take a trip to the water cooler or coffee machine and have some social interaction with others