There are lots of sites and blogs on the web which purport to be about productivity.  Many of these are about what might be termed ‘personal productivity’ – time management, self-motivation, etc. 

This set me thinking.

Is there a natural connection between national productivity, organisational productivity and personal productivity?

My own view – based solely on my experience, but not on any formal, structured research – is that national productivity could broadly be regarded as the aggregate of organisational productivity, but that organisational productivity has little to do with any aggregate of personal productivity. Organisational productivity is much more a function of the effectiveness of processes, systems and procedures – over which individuals have little control.

So, by all means encourage your employees to manage their time and their own workflow within the limits they do control – but don’t expect that to have a significant impact on the performance of your organisation.