Taken from our new report More: The Problem with Productivity, we share stories of how productivity is understood across various industries. 12/09/2024

There is a relentless emphasis on improving productivity today – and with good reason. Productivity is, economically speaking, extremely important. But productivity is an unexamined idea, one of those words that ‘think for us’.

At its deepest and most profound level, productivity is not a matter of creating more stuff, but of forming better ‘persons’. Improving productivity levels can enable that, but it may not. In particular, when it comes to activities in which the human dimension is central, improving productivity can be counterproductive.

In our new report, More: The Problem with Productivity, we showcased the stories of a number of different people spanning a variety of industries, to see what productivity meant to them.

Lizzie (Midwife)

Lizzie is an experienced midwife. Before the pandemic, she led a home birth team supporting vulnerable women. More recently, alongside her ongoing clinical duties, she serves as a clinical advisor for a maternity safety organisation that focuses on systemic improvements without assigning individual blame. 

“In the labour ward, there’s a push to move patients quickly, which often sacrifices the moment of rest a new mother might need. It’s a stark example of capitalist values like productivity overshadowing quality of care,” Lizzie notes. She goes on to describe, in contrast, the approach they took with the home birth team: “It was quality over quantity. We didn’t see as many people, but we gave them the care that they needed for a good outcome. Quality interactions in maternity care are so important and can significantly influence maternal and neonatal outcomes,” she says. 

Staffing shortages, the impact of austerity, and the push towards privatisation of healthcare, in the context of a broader devaluation of care work, have added a lot of pressure on the NHS, which she calls “the country’s biggest social justice system”. This explains, in part, why capitalist values and standards have taken root. But the fruit that’s ripened is bittersweet: “In healthcare, we face the paradox where our focus on productivity can actually become unsafe. With a system designed around short–term gains, we overlook the long–term investment in health, which leads to bad health outcomes in the long run.” Lizzie says she would like to see the health system taking a “salutogenic” approach – promoting health and wellbeing not simply treating diseases, and not losing sight of what healthcare is all about: “caring for each other as humans”.

Sister Catherine (Nun)

Sister Catherine is a nun who has belonged to the Sisters of the Assumption, a Roman Catholic religious order, for 40 years. Before she became a nun, she worked extensively in finance, housing associations and the third sector. She studied for an MA and PhD in Catholic social teaching and its applicability to business ethics in the finance sector. She is an expert on Catholic theology and business ethics and consults for various companies and investors in that space as well as doing what she calls “various nunly things” as part of her community life. Her economic expertise is such that she has been called ‘the nun who saw’, referring to her having foreseen the 2008 economic crash long before most experts in the field imagined it. 

Asked what she thinks of when she hears the word ‘productivity’, Sister Catherine says “I think, what a load of tosh” and prefers to think in terms of fruitfulness. 

“Clearing your inbox is productive but isn’t necessarily fruitful. Fruitfulness is something generative, not just productive or accumulative. Productivity relies on a narrow understanding of the human person and an anxiety about tangible results, which doesn’t allow for the generative. I might produce 400 widgets now but produce 500 if I read this glossy self–help book, but if I can’t sell 400 because there’s a glut, what is the point? How is that fruitful?” 

She says that the divine office – the regular pattern of prayers that her community of nuns observe throughout the day – provides a rock and framework for the day as well as for life. This “punctuates the day” with prayer and contemplation, which in turn shapes her discernment of economic ideas. The psalms, for example, provide a “shared history” and an opportunity to read about other people screaming at God about injustice in a way that is relatable. 

“It’s about trying to see the world the way Christ does, which means looking at everything differently. It isn’t bad to be more efficient in your work, but the goal isn’t to be so in order to make more. The goal is to be bringing about the Kingdom of God.”

Alastair (Painter)

Alastair is an art instructor and a prize–winning professional painter. Not surprisingly, as an artist, he prefers to speak about creativity rather than productivity: “I would personally swap the word productivity for creativity and focus on the things that engender the creative process, that lead to the making of good art. In fact, I think that when I’m being very creative, I am also being productive. But the creativity might lead to an idea, a written project, or a painted project or it might lead to the building of studios. It does not necessarily lead to a product.” 

He remarks that activities often deemed unproductive, like social interactions and rest, are essential for creativity and long–term productivity. Drawing from his experiences and advice from his mentor during his undergraduate studies, Alastair underscores the importance of engaging in activities that recharge one’s creative energies, such as going out for a walk in nature, reading a book or visiting galleries to gain new perspectives. 

Managing productivity pressures, particularly when preparing for exhibitions, Alastair highlights that “moments of restoration are part of the creative process and certainly enhance productivity.” He goes on to note that, “if we think about creativity and productivity simply in terms of the quantity of things that are being produced, then one may argue that a day strolling and reading is ineffective. But if we think of productivity and creativity as something broader than that, then the most productive thing I can do sometimes is to not go to the studio and make anything, and instead go for a walk in the hills.” 

Alastair is critical of the tendency to measure art’s value solely through its utility or economic impact. “The idea of productivity is caught up within a kind of form of capitalistic model, a model that involves a product, a system of production, and monetary value. And these things are neither good nor bad. But they are a very different to what happens in an art studio, where it’s less about making a thing to be bought and sold and more about expressing an idea, articulating thoughts, evoking a sense of place, and so on. And if that happens to be a product that can be sold to make rent or pay a mortgage, great. But there are very few artists who go into this kind of lifestyle and career path specifically to generate income.”   

If judged solely by utility, art appears to serve no function. Yet, the true value of art, Alastair argues, lies in its “capacity to punch holes in the darkness, to help us lament, ask questions, evoke emotions and illuminate our experiences.”

Justin (Coffee roaster and co–founder)

Justin is a co–founder of a coffee roasting business that sources exclusively from womanmajority–owned farms. How helpful he finds productivity depends on the task. For administrative tasks or when batch roasting, he prioritizes efficiency. However, when it comes to the actual roasting process, quality is paramount. “When I’m roasting, it’s quality above all else,” he says. 

Post–COVID, Justin observes a societal shift towards well–being over relentless productivity. Despite this, businesses still face pressure to grow in productivity as consumers, with more time on their hands, have higher expectations. “There is a huge societal pressure on businesses to be more productive… People have more time and expect more from businesses,” he notes. 

Justin warns, however, that an excessive focus on productivity can erode personal interactions and relationships. He values those seemingly ‘unproductive’ moments with suppliers, customers, and stakeholders. “Where there is an excessive focus on productivity, we lose people and relationships… those little interactions that could be seen as inefficient but are so important!” he says. This belief was evident when a corporate client increased their coffee order. Instead of simply fulfilling it, Justin investigated and discovered the client’s employees were overworked. He decided to provide a more intriguing coffee blend to help them pause, savour the coffee and enjoy a moment of rest away from the stress of work. 

To balance market pressures with maintaining personal connections, Justin stresses finding clients with similar values and having honest conversations about capabilities and expectations. “All of my solutions… have never been because of my really well–structured plan. It’s all come from being honest and saying ‘this is where we’re at’, and someone meeting us there, and then there’s something that comes out of that,” he explains. 

He also values relationships with coffee farmers, respecting their expertise and acknowledging their role in supporting entire communities. Together with his co–founder, Justin aims to build a business ethos centred on a passion for coffee and people. This drives their sourcing and relationship–building practices, all with a view to ensuring the business has a lasting and meaningful impact in the world.

Raphael (Architect)

Raphael is an architect that tries to do things differently in a field where inspiration and tangible outputs often intertwine in complex ways. 

“Architecture is a creative field that straddles very hard economic factors as well,” Raphael explains. “We have to be able to give an account of how we spend our time to charge clients.” This necessity for time–tracking is unavoidably in tension with the oftenunpredictable nature of creative work. “How do you charge for the time it takes to come up with an idea?” he muses. “Something marinating in the evening before, thinking about it on the way to work… it’s quite hard to gauge.” 

Raphael finds satisfaction in the various activities that are part of a ‘day’s work’. “A good day’s work involves collaboration, meeting deadlines, advancing on to–do lists, and doing something in work that wasn’t just for other people,” he shares. This balance of client work, personal development, and creative exploration helps him maintain enthusiasm for his profession. 

Raphael sees value in having certain limits and constraints. “Constraints can actually be helpful,” he notes. “They can tell you that the job is done and time is spent. They can also foster creativity. Sometimes, if you give someone a huge piece of paper, it can be very daunting.” 

However, Raphael is acutely aware of the potential pitfalls of an overly productivity focused approach. “An unintended consequence [of productivity] is it kind of fractures people… it can be very difficult to manage productivity and see people’s full human self,” he observes. This insight has led his firm to explore innovative billing methods that better align with their values of family and well–being. 

Yet, Raphael acknowledges the real–world pressures that require attention to productivity. “I think there has to be some level of productivity,” he reflects. “If you create a business from scratch, you’re not operating in a vacuum… you have to survive in a very competitive environment. If the business fails… people lose their jobs, we have to make redundancies, which is very painful.” 

Through his experiences, Raphael illustrates the ongoing challenge in creative industries: balancing the need for measurable outcomes with the less quantifiable aspects of inspiration and innovation. His approach suggests that success lies not in rejecting productivity entirely, but in discovering ways to measure it in ways that honour both the creative process and the human beings behind it.

Michael (University professor)

As a university professor, Michael has learned to navigate the complex landscape of academic research with its pressure to produce quality outputs and retain consistently good feedback from students and peers. 

“Productivity is hugely important in academia,” Michael explains. “I’m evaluated based on my output, which is publications and grants.” The emphasis on productivity and highquality work are important, he notes, as they help maintain focus. But a single–minded focus on output can also stifle creativity and risk–taking in research that would otherwise lead to breakthroughs. Michael explains: “The system discourages researchers from exploring higher–risk areas where success is less likely. As a result, people tend to focus on topics they believe will result in top–tier publications and are more likely to secure grants. In my experience, pursuing more innovative research makes it harder to publish and obtain funding. Grant application reviewers, who are usually colleagues, might not understand or agree with novel ideas because they’re too new. This creates a barrier for truly groundbreaking research.” 

Moreover, the constant evaluation and the pressure of comparison with peers on the rate of success in securing grants can cause considerable stress. “Even when I had several big grants at the same time, there was stress about what would happen when they ended… it’s just causing constant stress.” In extreme cases, when grants fail to materialise or one’s professional status changes, it can lead to an identity crisis. 

Despite these challenges, Michael recognises the intrinsic value of productivity in academic life and human experience more broadly. “To create something, to produce something is fundamentally rewarding and satisfactory,” he reflects. “It’s a very important part of human well–being. A lot of purpose comes from us being involved in activities that are bigger than ourselves and creating something that benefits other people.”