The definition of productivity is generally thought to be the ration of output volume to the volume of inputs. Put another way, in order to increase productivity you must either reduce inputs or increase outputs. YouTube and the self help bookshelves are full of productivity improvement advice. We are constantly…
We constantly hear from UK Government that we need to be more productive. The cry goes out we are less productive than such and such country. My response is “so what!!” You can either be innovative or productive but not both. Let’s look at why trying to be innovative and…
I have no interest in football except that it got me thinking the other day – why do people go to football matches and what can it teach us about effectiveness? I realised the answer is a great example of why effective and efficient are not the same thing. For…
We constantly hear about the problem with productivity. So many people keep comparing productivity rates and saying that the company or country with the highest rate is the best. Productivity is measured in terms of output either per person or per hour but we need to think again and see…
I love honey bees. My other business is a honey farm and I have over six million of them flying around making honey. Because of the waggle dance where the scout bees communicate to the hive where the best pickings are to be found everyone assumes that honey bees are…
One question I am often asked is “given that you are always going on about effectiveness, what’s the difference between efficiency, productivity and effectiveness?” The easiest way to answer the question is with an example. Let’s take the health service. A productive health service sees as many patients as possible…