A great academic recently shared one of Cal Newport’s new New Yorker blog posts: The Frustration with Productivity. It’s a great, interesting read. I really like Newport’s big point: if employers want more productivity, they can’t individualize the process. Same way that Henry Ford didn’t ask individual workers to design the factory layout. I’ve got to admit that I like to see Newport get a little radical. It seems like he’s become a bit more comfortable with ruffling the feathers of the knowledge work world. Go Cal!!
However, I’d just add the following. Why are people increasingly frustrated with focus on productivity?
Life’s just full of unknowable mysteries, isn’t it?