#91. Productivity

We have discussed productivity several times in the past. Nonetheless, today we will dive a little deep into this facet, and see how to we continue to keep relevance in the modern world and beyond.

“The real question is, when will we draft an artificial intelligence bill of rights? What will that consist of? And who will get to decide that?”

— Gray Scott

Defining Productivity

We have talked about the concept of productivity multiple times on this website, specifically about how the world is much more productivity focused than it used to be. To be fair, productivity is how we measure our effectiveness, but even when we compare it to a couple of decades ago, the goals & the measure to get there have grown significantly.

Let’s dive a little deeper in the world of productivity, shall we? The easiest way to measure productivity today is through a basic input-output equation. It is the amount of output generated per unit input.

Simply put (no pun intended),

Productivity= Output/Input.

And this input-output equation is basically ruling the world at this point in time.

The Prevalence of Productivity

Are you working in the corporate space? Certainly, you will be introduced to the concept eventually, and maybe even be measured on it.

Are you running your own business? You might be more focused on productivity than the average employee. This is because the input comes from your very own invested capital. Naturally, you would love to optimize to get the highest bang for your buck, as they say.

Are you looking to buy something? Of course, you would want to know what is the best, most productive deal you could invest in? Because at the end of the day, the outputs define the value of the product, don’t they?

Do you have people working for you? Maybe not consciously, but you will end up comparing one person with another to deem one more productive than the other.

And these are just a few examples, about which I could think off the top of my head. The world is more complex than it has ever been. I am positive there are millions of other examples that would fit the bill. However, the struggle doesn’t stop at just selecting the most productive means. We are also looking to constantly optimise what we have to make it more productive.

The Struggle for Optimization

We are always on the lookout for “areas of improvement”. As they say, you cannot improve what you can’t measure. This gives rise to pursuing for tangible, improvable input factors in our input output equation. And how do we define tangibility? It is by numbers. Anything that has, or can be assigned a number is assigned one, and so begins the race for enhance them.

Therefore, we can safely conclude that world today has become hyper-obsessed with productivity and consequently with input optimization. And the signs have always been there. It started with the assembly line, which allowed for not only a streamlined manufacturing process, but a quicker and productive manufacturing process. The change today is we have artificial intelligence making us more productive.

We are able to do less with more, thanks to AI.

Need to write an email? Well, sure. And it can possibly do it better than we can.

Want to summarize stuff? Again, give it what you need and seven times out of ten, it will give you what you are looking for.

Even the code that was generated by humans to make our lives easier, and is interestingly an input for the creation of AI can be generated with the help of AI. (Meta, I know. Again, no pun intended).

As a result of AI becoming more efficient than its predecessors and more cost effective, it has become the go to response for most businesses, so much so that it has started to impact the human population. People across the globe are losing job in the name of efficiency, productivity and cost effectiveness. What used to require 10 people can be done with two, thanks to AI.

However, so far there is one thing that we have been missing in this picture.

The Power of Intangibles

What about the factors we cannot assign numbers to? What about the intangibles?

The very things that make us different from AI, I believe are the answer to humans continuing to being relevant, even in the modern world. Granted there might come a time where humans might no longer have the capability to make basic calculations, thanks to AI. But does that mean we should become utter slaves to technology and let it decide our fate for us? Well, I don’t think so.

Now, what exactly do I mean by the intangibles?

Our creativity.

Our power to draw logical inferences.

Our work ethics.

Our ability and willingness to improve ourselves.

Two things that I want to clarify. One, I did not intend this to be scathing commentary on today’s world. Two, I am not trying to be naive. Should we keep up with the trends and continue to up-skill ourselves and make use of technology to be more productive, for sure we should. But that shouldn’t be an excuse for us to let our differentiators dull down, and then die out.

To ride the wave of progress, embracing skill and technology for greater yield, is wise. Yet, let not the tide of trend erode the unique shores of our being, lest our distinct essence fade into the common sea.

If you stuck around this far, thank you for your time. If you enjoyed this, share this with one friend of yours whom you think will benefit from reading this. Thanks for reading, and I will see you in the next one. 🙂