Don’t Multitask
If, on reading this headline, your first response was “If I don’t multitask, how do I get through my long and varied To Do list?”, then read on. If you switch regularly snd swiftly between
Crisis, What Crisis?
Media pundits love to talk about the productivity crisis. (Well, let’s be honest, they love to talk about any crisis…. and if there isn’t a crisis to talk about, they will invent one.) The productivity crisis
Breaking out of the Spiral of Decline
Poor, and declining, national productivity is a serious malaise. Not only does it mean that inflation is likely to rise - as wage rises lead to increased costs without corresponding output rises - but investment also declines).
Use Intelligence Before Using AI
AI is certainly ‘the next big thing’ with many claiming it as a transformational tool. Whether it is or not, only time - and productivity statistics - will tell. However, the sheer volume of publicity being
Set Goals at the Right Level
Organisational strategies obviously work at the corporate level - they are overarching, sometimes summed up as BHAGs - Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals. Such goals are useful in expressing the longer term direction for, and aims
Which Decisions?
Clearly industry leaders havre difficult decisions to make at particular times and under particular circumstances. At all times, these difficult decisions should be informed by the overarching organisational mission and strategic plan. However, we are particularly
Do As I Say
There is an old saying that poor leaders can be summed up with the phrase ‘Do As I Say, Not As I Do’ meaning that leaders who do not ‘walk the walk as well as
Where Digital Tools Fail
Technology has been a significant driver of enhanced productivity over the last several decades. Now many are predicting that AI will be the next major revolution. However, the current crop of digital tools (including AI) is,
Do Governments Innovate?
Most people - including me - would answer immediately - and say ‘No’. However, things are not so simple. Think of recent large-scale innovation changes. Nuclear power for example. Or space exploration. Such massive innovations could not
Trust is the Key
Bad title. There is no one key to productivity. Yet, research shows a strong correlation between mutual trust and performance in organisations. Mutual trust means that: Senior leaders trust employees Managers trust their team members Managers
Listen to the Sound of Silence
Many people like to listen to music while they work on their computer or carry out other individual tasks. Music can drown out the sounds of the task itself or the sounds of colleagues -
Failure is a Route to Success
Most business people are aware that failure can be a useful learning process - allowing those who are part of the failure to learn lessons about what went wrong and/or where they could have improved
Can the UK Fix its Health Service?
The NHS (National Health Service) in the UK is regarded by many British people as ‘the jewel in the crown’ - by far the most important public service. Over the last decade, though, there has been
What is the point of productivity?
Reading documents and even blog posts about productivity would lead one to believe that the only purpose of improving productivity is to raise profits. That is true at the level of the firm … but
America Leeds
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
No Secret to Improved Productivity
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,
Where Can We Successfully Apply AI?
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
Healthy Employees are Productive Employees
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
How Was The Pandemic For You?
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
Speed is Still Not Everything
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
Speed is not Everything
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
The Creativity of Ignorance
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
Problem or Opportunity
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,
Work Hard, Like The Rest of Them
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