Productivity Reimagined: Shattering Performance Myths to Achieve Sustainable Growth - Hardcover

by Jacob Stoller (Author)

Escape common business myths to unleash game-changing productivity

Written by Shingo Prize winner Jacob Stoller, Productivity Reimagined shows how most companies are constrained by deeply engrained myths that prevent employees from reaching their full productive potential, causing frustration, poor decisions, and disappointing results. Evidence is drawn from Toyota and dozens of other companies that have countered these myths to build strong collaborative cultures and achieve sustainable growth.

Arguments are reinforced by the latest science on human behavior and systems theory and supported by more than 60 interviews from prominent CEOs, consultants, academics, executive directors, and EVPs in the context of today's pressing global issues, including labor shortage, income inequality, job-related stress, supply chain instability, and climate change. In this book, readers will learn:

• Why we are facing a global productivity crisis despite what the news media are telling us
• Why frontline employees aren't to blame for low productivity, and that the boss doesn't always know best
• Why the whole does not equal the sum of the parts, and that the past doesn't necessarily determine the future
• Why a strong workplace culture is the essential enabler for high productivity, and how to instill it

As companies face the new realities of the global economy, Productivity Reimagined is an essential resource for forward-thinking executives, managers, and business leaders looking to solve the productivity puzzle and empower their workforces to perform at their best.

Front Jacket

People by nature want to be productive, and companies want their people to be productive. Yet there's a disconnect between people's productive inclinations and what actually happens in most companies.

Productivity Reimagined shows how a revitalized approach, based on dispelling five common myths, is enabling leading companies to empower their people and establish productivity as a competitive advantage.

Evidence is drawn from Toyota and other forward-thinking companies that have successfully countered these myths and shattered barriers created by conventional command-and-control management, ending counterproductive practices such as reliance on false metrics, segmentation of purpose, and alienation of employees.

The key to breakthrough productivity growth is building team cultures that respect every person and engage them in continuous improvement. The book presents the latest science on human behavior and systems theory, supported by more than 60 interviews from prominent CEOs, consultants, academics, executive directors, and EVPs, representing a range of case study scenarios including Lean transformations, adoption of Deming principles, sustainability projects, technology adoption, and community development.

In order to help leaders overcome systemic roadblocks when trying to bring real change, Productivity Reimagined sets readers up with not just the knowledge of an alternate approach, but also the practical steps needed to implement a path forward.

As companies face the new realities of the global economy, Productivity Reimagined earns a well-deserved spot on the bookshelves of managers, executives, entrepreneurs, and all other business professionals looking for fresh perspective and a better way of running a business.

Back Jacket

Praise for PRODUCTIVITY REIMAGINED

"In Productivity Reimagined, author Jacob Stoller draws on both the wisdom of the ages and the most modern ideas of workplace psychology using compelling examples to dispel the myths of what it means to be engaged and productive. He reveals a superior way of thinking that all of us can aspire to and draw on. If you've been stuck for a while now, this is the book to get you on the road to new levels of results."
-- RICHARD SHERIDAN, CEO and Chief Storyteller at Menlo Innovations; and author of Joy, Inc. and Chief Joy Officer

"Productivity Reimagined paints a picture of the incredible outcomes possible when you create environments of caring, collaboration, and continuous improvement. Stoller's latest is an exceptional guide for anyone looking to improve output as well as the lives in their span of care!"
-- BOB CHAPMAN, CEO of Barry-Wehmiller; and author of Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family

"Productivity Reimagined author Jacob Stoller does a stellar job of connecting the concept and the practices of productivity and identifying the misunderstandings that so often cause productivity initiatives to be counterproductive."
-- JOHN SHOOK, Senior Advisor, Lean Enterprise Institute; and Chairman, Lean Global Network

"Stoller provides an exceptional blueprint for companies striving to solve the productivity puzzle and empower their workforce to excel in today's global economy."
-- KERRY SIGGINS, CEO of StoneAge; and author of The Ownership Mindset