I spoke last week about the problems of interpreting productivity figures. Recent data from the UK's Office for National Statistics suggests that across the economy, productivity is still 4.3% below the pre-crisis peak and if it had

Explaining productivity figures needs interpretation and judgement. For example, the UK has had low productivity growth for the last few years. Why? Bank of England economists suggest that one reason might be that fewer businesses

I’ve recently returned from Greece where I was privileged to visit the site of the oracle at Delphi – a major centre of  world communication in the 5th century BC.  The size and scale of

On my recent visit to India, I visited a number of organisations and facilities where the senior mangers were critical of the performance of the workforce - citing their reluctance to work harder as a

In a recent trawl across productivity writings - papers, blogs and so  - which I find useful both just to keep in touch and occasionally inspire me to new thought -  I came across the

I've been in India for a week talking about a number of issues, including skills development.  India is making a big investment in Sector Skills Councils to try to work with industry to identify and

The UK has had severe flooding this spring – especially in the South West of the country. The reasons are not fully clear – but the weather conditions have been remarkable and relentless. Over the

Paradigm changes are rare - and when they occur, they can be very disruptive and threatening to those with a significant (financial or emotional) investment in the status quo. They are also unexpected - almost

How many people in this world do you trust? My answer is 'All of them' until they suggest to me that they cannot be trusted.  If we start from a position of trust, we normally

Our office is quite small - a few desks ... and computers of course.  One of our members of staff is a graphic designer (amongst other things, for of course we cannot afford single-specialism staff)

Last week I talked about the need to cross organisational boundaries - to avoid creating 'silo management' where each department takes decisions on its own information to suit its own ends - resulting in sub-optimal

Many of us are defined by our academic qualification or professional status - as engineers, managers or whatever. But most of us have learned that we need to be able to talk to those in

Sugar gives you an 'energy rush' - very useful when you have a demanding task to perform.  That is why we like sugary snacks throughout the day when we're at work or taking physical exercise.

We went through the 'quality revolution in the 70s/80s - now everyone (well all the big guys) has ISO 9000 and some have been through TQM programmes. Why is it then that it is so

I want a new guitar. I admit I don't need one (I have 4)... but I want one. The problems is that my wife says we don't have the space.  She has initiated a new

Marks & Spencer, the large UK retailer has an environmental strategy branded 'Plan A' .... "because there is no Plan B.  They are trying to get over the message that we HAVE to look after

If you Google the word 'productivity', you get lots of results. Many of them relate to 'personal productivity', some of them to organisational productivity and a few to national productivity. So, which is the most

Christmas has gone. We now turn to celebrating the coming of a new year.  This is traditionally the time to make resolutions to affirm values, to set out our new path. We can, of course,

Christmas is coming (sounds like the cue for a song!)  Whether or not you are Christian, I am sure you can appreciate the overall Christmas message of 'peace and goodwill'. It is, however, a little

I have seen reports recently that relate to the literacy levels of young people in some of the most developed nations. .. like the UK and Australia.  These reports suggests that these countries are moving

I'm in Mauritius - working! This is a beautiful place, of course.  But when we look at such island paradises, we sometimes forget they too have to build an economy to look after their citizens.

We want our staff to participate ... to take part in improvement projects and initiatives - even to initiate them. But we have to first engage them - we have to make them see why

On the LinkedIn group which I moderate (Productivity Futures) we have recently had a discussion about which come first - motivation or productivity. One side of the argument (conventional wisdom) suggests that we motivate staff