I've been writing about some ideas which might help you become more productive personally and in your work teams. Since we are all knowledge workers now, becoming more productive to me means managing the information, processes and people that we interact with more productively.
Let's say we break through the productivity barrier. We implement the Getting Things Done approach to life (recommended). We improve the way we collaborate and communicate with others. We get the tools we need to make sense of the sea of data we are constantly surrounded by. Now what? Take on more work, or, as the Buddha is rumored to have said "Don't just do something, stand there".
What we need to do with the braincycles we free up by becoming more productive is to use them to...THINK. Thinking is a lost art and we in business have become somewhat suspicious of anyone who is not in a constant whirlwind of meetings and actions. However, if we are all knowledge workers we are ultimately compensated to use the gray matter between our ears more effectively. Ultimately, all the methodologies and tools we have to help us become more productive should pay off in providing us with more time to think.
What would happen if you closed your office door for 45 minutes a day to ponder the next big idea for your product or your team? Why is it taboo to put your feet up and let your mind wander? Imagine the insight that's possible if you could direct 85 to 90% of your thinking capacity to new ideas, rather than just tumbling them around with all the other urgent but unimportant stuff that usually is rattling around up there.
The point is - as you achieve any productivity gain, pay yourself first. Put some of that time aside and rather than fill it with another meeting or a new urgent but unimportant task, use that time to start thinking for a living. Step back and spend a little time thinking about your products, your processes, and the culture of your business. What are the possibilities?
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