The Productivity Guru

Yesterday, I posted a piece about reduced work hours and their effect on productivity and human performance.  Also yesterday, I received from a very good friend his daily post on his blog, "In Deep Schiste" about the cultural tradition in France of the extended lunch break.  Chris is a journalist formerly from the United Kingdom who now lives in southern France.  These lunches are typically held from 12:30pm to 2:00pm.  Other countries do similar things.  I have seen it in effect in France, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic and in other countries.  It is called "siesta" in the south.  Typically a large lunch and a short nap were/are the tradition.  The government in France even went so far as barring workers from eating at their desks to encourage this tradition of eating out.  There are statistics which seem to prove that this lengthened lunch leads to higher productivity.  The pandemic has put all of this in disarray.  But per Chris's post, tradition seems to be re

  The title of this blog post comes from a report by the University of Chicago about the excess work time that Americans put in on the job.  An Op-Ed piece in the New York Times  by Bryce Covert on July 25, 2021 contains information on this subject that is also readily available from other sources.       Apparently Americans log in 7 to 19 percent more time on the job than their European peers.         This year, the Spanish government announced a pilot program to entice corporations to try out a  four day workweek without reducing anyone's pay.     Last month, Japan released economic policy guidelines encouraging employers to do the same thing.     Iceland just published results from an experiment with a four-day workweek in Reykjavik that  ran from 2015 to 2019 and found that productivity didn't decline and in some cases improved. The reduced schedule showed "that we are not just machines that just work,"  one Icelandic participant said.  "We are persons with d

I have for the longest time been a believer in positive confrontations.  All too often, supervisors, managers, and yes even some executives only use or know how to use negative confrontations.   That is a tragedy and travesty.  This is not just using them in a business environment, but also in our own personal lives.  We are quick to send reviews or complaints to companies or businesses but all too often we seem to feel we do not have the time to say a good word when it is deserved.  The problem is all around us.  We are just too quick to correlate the term "confrontation" with the word "negative."  It shouldn't be that way Positive feedback and confrontation should be important and necessary for any successful person.  I found the enclosed brief post when looking at a particular blog.  It summarizes much but not all of what I believe in positive confrontations .  Take a look and let me know your thoughts. Have a great week. Bob  July 26, 2021

In prior posts, I have talked about what businesses are doing due to the onslaught of people who are quitting.  This particular post is from the perspective of the person leaving the organization.  This article is great because it urges caution on how you should resign.   It does not suggest you should not leave, just how is the best way to do it.  The author urges you to think through exactly the steps you should and should not take when quitting.  It does not attempt to suggest that you should not quit, but what will be the best and most effect way to accomplish this.  It's a good and reasonable read from Rachel Feintzeig of the Wall Street Journal.  

  My last post was about a remarkable CEO, Hubert Joly, formerly of Best Buy.  On Sunday, July 19, 2021, the New York  Times published an  interview  of Joly by David Gelles.  It rounds out the information in my last post.  Enjoy! Bob, July 22, 2021

I have over four decades of experience with easily over one thousand CEO's/Managing Directors around the world.  I have witnessed some who were the best of the best, others who were less stellar and the vast majority at various stages in-between.  This is the story of one of the best.  Read the article from the Wall Street Journal by Hubert Joly  of how he became and then handled the role of CEO at Best Buy.  For those unfamiliar with Best Buy, it is probably the largest consumer electronics retailer in the USA. With roughly more than 800 stores and close to 100,000 employees, Best Buy was a big company.  It was in that time period that Best Buy was reeling from ineffective management, lackluster consumer demand, serious online competition and what your will find was a really screwed up IT operation.  Financial analysts were suggesting it should file for bankruptcy  The story is intriguing, readable and fascinating.  It also shows you what a great CEO can do if they want to. One of

Recently I suggested here on my blog that the return to work would come with many changes.  One that I anticipated was that companies who continue to adopt or maintain a hybrid model will end up reducing their need for real estate and  space .  Read the Wall Street Journal article on this subject.  Bob   July 6, 2021

Just a short post, but reading the papers today, I came across two pieces which I feel are important to read. The  first  article appeared in the Wall Street Journal and is entitled "Manufacturer's Good Problems." It suggests that while manufacturers are indeed having supply chain issues and recruiting dilemmas, business is expanding in a big way.  Currently The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) based on surveys they do which currently indicate the ISM "index of manufacturing activity" is currently at 60.6, and anything over 50 signals expansion.  The consumer is buying!! The  second  article appeared in both the New York Times and the NPR blog.  This article comes from the Times newspaper today.  Both report that U.S. employers added 850,000 workers in June.  This suggests strongly that labor is being rehired at a fast pace.  That reflects in the hiring issue mentioned above in the first article.  But businesses need to keep an eye on the high quit rate I m