Episode Details

This is one of a set of posts on common misconceptions about productivity and work. I call them Lies About Productivity. I'll address some 'lie' and suggest a new mindset that is helpful toward being effective, not exhausted - Do Busy Right.

• Productivity and managing tasks for employees and self-employed individuals.
  • Employees may falsely believe their productivity is their boss's responsibility, neglecting personal growth.
  • Bosses don't always prioritize employee productivity, and knowledge work has changed the way we think about productivity.
  • Some differences between knowledge work and physical work (see Episode 2)
• Evolution of work and organizations.
  • Adam Smith's ideas on specialization of labor (250 years ago) continue to shape modern organizational thought.
  • Adam Smith observed that dividing tasks into smaller parts can increase productivity.
  • Work became more efficient with division of labor and introduction of machinery, but also constrained the work itself.
• Factory efficiency and worker productivity.
  • Henry Ford's factory used specialization and machines to increase efficiency and reduce reliance on human labor.
  • How factory work became highly defined and standardized, with specific tasks and output targets for workers.
  • Management focused on motivation as a factor in productivity, as workers were expected to perform repetitive tasks for long periods of time.
• Management thought evolution and skill vs. motivation.
  • Early management focus was on motivation, with a distinction between motivational and skill problems.
  • Organizations must distinguish between motivation and skill issues when addressing underperformance.
  • How my kids cut grass.
• The current state of managerial and employee thought
  • Bosses tend to think they need to tell employees what to do. Employees tend to think that bosses will tell them what to do.
  • This 'cultural contract' is challenged by the nature of knowledge work, specifically:
  • Quality of knowledge work is hard to judge
  • Knowledge work processes are not observable. The boss can't watch employees work.
  • The challenges of measuring progress and quality in knowledge work, where outputs are unobservable.
• Knowledge work challenges that state of thought and who needs to manage productivity.
  • the nature of knowledge work,
  • the bosses mindset around motivation,
  • the desire to 'hire someone smarter than me' and the challenges.
  • Managers struggle to manage knowledge workers due to:
  • So, knowledge workers must at least participate in managing their own productivity in modern organizations.
  • This requires a very close relationship with the boss.
• Symptoms of not managing your own productivity
  • Frustration over your ability to produce the right results.
  • Consistent frustration about quality leads to acceptance of stress as natural.
  • Stress has a high cost in the productivity of knowledge work.
  • Develop a productivity mindset by leading and managing yourself well, using tools to track work, and recognizing the limitations of stress as a motivator.
• Your new mindset about your productivity
  • Believe that you need to lead and manage yourself well - nobody else knows how.
  • You'll need a system to manage yourself.
  • Understand that stress and associated deadlines are not good motivators, particularly in knowledge work.
• Results of your new mindset
  • Increasing levels of calmness and control
  • Leading to better focus and greater productivity.
• Tools