The Keys to Productivity

Do you ever read about productivity? Do you ever try to learn ways to become more productive? I know I do. And, I have become pretty fed-up with a lot of the advice out there.

For this reason I wanted to pass along Peter Drucker's Six Keys to Productivity. Before I do I must clarify one point. The six keys pertain to knowledge work. As the name suggests, knowledge work is work largely done with your mind. Meaning, it is not manual labor. And, if you are reading this blog, chances are, you are a knowledge-worker.

That said, here are the six major factors that determine knowledge-worker productivity:

First, Knowledge-Worker productivity demands that we ask the question: “What is the task?” 

Second, It demands that we impose the responsibility for their productivity on the individual knowledge workers themselves. Knowledge-Workers have to manage themselves. They have to have autonomy.

Third, Continuing innovation has to be part of the work, the task and the responsibility of knowledge workers.

Fourth, Knowledge work requires continuous learning on the part of the knowledge worker, but equally continuous teaching on the part of the knowledge worker.

Fifth, Productivity of the knowledge worker is not–at least not primarily–a matter of quantity of output. Quality is at least as important.

And sixth, knowledge-worker productivity requires that the knowledge worker is both seen and treated as an “asset” rather than a “cost.” It requires that knowledge workers want to work for the organization in preference to all other opportunities.

The wording may be a little strange but, if you review, you will eventually get it. In fact, I would commit the six keys to memory. I know I have. I just use single words. For #2 I think of autonomy. For #3 I remember to always innovate, etcetera.

For the time being, let's elaborate on just the first factor, because it is the most important piece. In order to be productive we must ask the question, “What is the task?” This may seem like an easy question. However, I can assure you, the answer is usually anything but obvious (until you get it, then it's a no-brainer.)

A little background. For the majority of human existence, the answer to the question, “What is the task?” was pretty straightforward. Answers would include things like plants seeds in the spring, or harvest in the fall, or clean the house. But, in the age of knowledge work, determining what the task is has become anything but obvious.

If I were to ask you what is your task. Would you be able to answer it? If you were completely honest with me, I bet your answer would be lacking. I am not trying to be rude. I am just being honest. Again, the question is a difficult one. For this reason, I encourage you to spend some time on it.

To help you, I will offer my own situation as an example. I am no genius but I can tell you that I have spent a very long time trying to answer Drucker's question. Let me give you my answer.

I own an MLM business. To be a successful MLM representative, one way to characterize the task is the following three words, “Collect informed decisions.” The more I do that task, and the more I teach that task, the more success I achieve.

A three word task is a pretty good description of what needs to be done. It is simple and understandable. And, because it is simple and understandable, it is actionable. If your job is to collect informed decisions, it tells you what must be done. You have to talk to people. Lots of people. It is not a good idea to sit around, hoping and praying.

There is, of course, more to my job than that. But, not much more. And, as I hope you can see, knowing what the task is illuminates the paths upon which we must travel. It is not easy to accurately identify the task, but it is worth it.

The real key to productivity is to properly answer the question, “What is the task?” Hopefully you can see how this question is connected to last week's post.