Systems
The system around the work
A process moves at the speed of its slowest step. Effort spent elsewhere produces inventory, not output.
Most Productivity Problems Are System Problems
The largest determinant of how much people produce is the system they work in, not how hard they try.
Finding the Constraint
Every process has one step that sets the pace. Improving anything else changes nothing, and finding it takes an afternoon.
Handoffs, Queues and Dependencies
Every transfer between people or teams adds delay and loses context. Counting them is a quick diagnostic.
Tooling, Equipment and the Cost of Old Kit
Equipment that is slow or inadequate costs more than replacing it, and the arithmetic is rarely done.
Approvals and the Waiting You Created
The delay most under an organisation's own control, measured in days where the work is measured in minutes.
Meetings as a Productivity Measure
Meeting load and calendar fragmentation are measurable from data you already hold, and they explain more than most measures do.
Measuring the System, Not the Person
The same data arranged two ways answers different questions. One produces improvement and the other produces defensiveness.