What do you think productivity concerns? To me it means partly getting the right person and doing things as efficiently as possible.
I wish more managers felt like you. Too often, "productivity" means "political CYA" or "blowing one's horn loudly enough to get promoted"--even if the *actual* business goals or customer needs fall by the wayside.
Which, by the way, I hint at in the second piece. I think the real situation is that competing business factors and the environment are so complex, it is impossible for anyone to get it "right"--there are too many things out of one's control. So what happens is, people do "their best" or even "just good enough" and focus on spin of whatever happens.
When enough high-ups do that, it poisons the well so to speak--so that you *have* to spin to get ahead.
When that goes on long enough, you get managers of the Fiorina type, or Jack Welch type.
Yes, I know, Six Sigma and all that. Hogwash. All Jack really did was nuke enough people to scare people--and then announce that he would cut the bottom 10% every year. People worked like dogs to avoid being in that 10%.
And the other thing he did was position himself as CEO during the stock market run-up of the late 1990's--GE is still as strongly performing now but their stock is just stuck where it was. Note the current CEO doesn't blame himself for the stagnant stock market, its "the environment".
But when the stock price goes up, the CEO gets full credit.
Nice work if you can get it! :-)
Thanks for taking the time to read and respond, btw!
Cheers!