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Unfreezing
Performance
Tor Dahl
Quality
reduces variation in products and processes; and Productivity introduces
variation in products and processes. Quality freezes a product or
process; and productivity unfreezes it. To maximize performance,
we must unfreeze first, and then freeze, to lock in the gains. This
is how productivity and quality go hand in hand.
Every
output is an input to something else. To maximize a specific output/input
ratio, is suboptimizing, unless one embraces output/input ratios
backwards (suppliers), and forwards (customers). Thus productivity
improvement must be spectral in both time and place.
The
macro architecture of productivity is freedom. The freer a country
is, the more wealth is created, and the higher the productivity
of its inhabitants. Many corporations are larger than many countries.
Freedom is as important for corporations and organizations as it
is for countries.
The
micro architecture for performance improvement consists of a cognitive
part that specifies what should be done, in what way, all the time;
and an affective part, which engages, commits and aligns the participants
in the dignity of a common goal.
The
purpose of all productive activity is to maximize satisfaction.
Satisfaction is a feeling. Thus at the deepest level, productivity,
or contribution, is tied to a full and satisfying life.
Influential
Readings:
- Dahl,
Tor, Darrell R. Lewis, and Carol J. Ericson, "Productivity in
Education - Theory and Practice," The 6th World Productivity Congress
in Montreal, Canada (1988). NOTE: This paper was published as
a reference paper by the Academy in 1989.
- Dahl,
Tor, "Creating Lasting Change," Presidential Address, The 7th
World Productivity Congress, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1990).
- Dahl,
Tor, "Peak Performance - The Role of Satisfaction, Stress, and
Control," Presidential Address, The 8th World Productivity Congress,
Stockholm, Sweden (1993).
- Dahl,
Tor, "Achieving Peak Performance: The Rules of Engagement," The
James L. Riggs Memorial Address, The 9th World Productivity Congress,
Istanbul, Turkey (1995).
- Dahl,
Tor, "Organizational Immortality: The Leadership Imperative,"
The James L. Riggs Memorial Address, The 10th World Productivity
Congress, Santiago, Chile (1997).
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Tor
is an economist, a consultant, and an associate professor at
the University of Minnesota. He has written extensively, served
as a consultant to foreign governments and global corporations,
governmental departments, and universities. A Fulbright Scholar
in Economics, Tor has published works on economics, management,
health, productivity, and behavioral change. In recent years,
he has worked with sophisticated electronic instrumentation
that measures productivity, stress, and job satisfaction of
executives and managers, and studied the linkages between these
variables and such factors as health status and successful behavioral
change.
e-mail: tor@Tordahl.com |
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a Personal Productivity Values statement for Tor Dahl
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