The Modern Productivity Paradox, What Should Knowledge Workers Do? - DBR 072

Most everybody involved in knowledge work is involved with technology. It's what we do. We deal in information, so we deal with information technology. We believe that it makes us more productive – “better” at our jobs.

 

But what is the evidence that information technology is helping us be more productive? After all, that is its purpose in the modern workplace. I’d suggest that many people believe that the tech companies are dealing with that on our behalf. And the software companies would agree. They want to tell you that, yes, they're improving your productivity. But there's a ton of contrary evidence to that.

 

Also, both solopreneurs and companies are just hurling themselves into AI. The argument is, as the argument has always been with IT, that AI will make us more efficient, more productive. There are good reasons to doubt that. We’ll get into them.

 

What is the productivity paradox?

• The mismatch between the belief that IT spend on improved productivity and flat economic productivity
• The Y2K Bug and the aftermath of the Dot Com Bust
• The productivity paradox is making a return
• You need to know as you plan your own IT spending, for yourself or your team
• look for two problems: 1) you’re wasting money, and 2) you may not have another plan for improving productivity

What is the ‘modern’ productivity paradox?

• process “accretion”
• We struggle to learn from each other
• Vendors are a little unreliable on this point, for obvious reasons an
• accumulation of point solutions doesn't make a system

Challenges of managing technology

• 2003 Nicholas Carr , "IT Doesn't Matter"
• Carr’s point: technology wants to be a commodity
• Carr’s conclusion: you can’t gain a strategic advantage with a commodity resource

Systems theory

• efficiency is in automating processes, not in automating tasks.
• the difference between automating tasks and automating processes
• optimize a sub process then you sub optimize the whole process
• Systems engineering example – The Goal, Eli Goldratt
• Modern productivity paradox

What to do?

• Be aware that there is an ongoing argument about how to do this. It’s not trivial.
• Think about optimizing and automating Processes rather than Tasks
• Measure at the process level and experiment

Recap

 

I guess the primary takeaway is a reminder to not let the IT hype be a distraction from what you're trying to do. Some tools will help you and others won't. Just understand that convenience and 'time-savings' are actually pretty low on the list of useful targets for IT interventions. Stay focused on what you produce that creates the value you deliver to the world. Things that help you produce more are productive, everything else is not really.

 

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