Breaking The Myths Of Productivity

When did we get so obsessed with productivity? 

With every passing day, we see a flood of promotions about software, workshops, seminars and tools that give companies hope of getting work done efficiently and faster. 

But is pursuing productivity relentlessly actually a good tactic for your business? Is that really the best way to get people to want to work?

Despite our obsession with moving faster and doing more, productivity growth rates have stalled significantly in the last decade. As it turns out a do more, faster mindset isn’t the ideal manner in which people want to work. They want to slow down in order to get things right. So why are so many companies focused on increasing productivity at all costs? 

Traditional industries like manufacturing have straight-forward and concrete ways to measure efficiency. If you can produce more goods over time with fewer resources, you’ve increased your productivity. As tempting as it sounds, this blueprint dating back to the Industrial Revolution does not work for every modern-day business model.

Image Courtesy: flexjobs.com

When it comes to work dealing with information, the plan gets murkier. 

Our industry has been really good at finding ways to make the treadmill go faster. 

We hire people for their minds but don’t give them enough space to think. Will double the number of brainstorming sessions per week make your creative team more creative? Do more lines of code per day lead to better products?

Organizations invest a tonne of money to optimize, streamline and standardize their work in the hope of squeezing more productivity out of their organizations that they lose sight of intangible values such as ideas, creativity, empathy, insight, and most importantly the human connection that’s vital for meaningful work. This, in turn, makes employees feel a genuine connection with the organisation and energized by goals to help the company grow. 

So the next time you find yourself wondering what you can do to make your employees more productive, take a step back and think about why you’re doing what you’re doing. Examine your vision and purpose and then start working backwards. When you do this, the rest will simply fall into place.

At Nordic Intent, we provide data-driven insights and tools to help your company grow. Get in touch with us to know more.