Improving productivity is one of the main concerns of managers in organizations, who often face the challenge of increasing it without being very clear about where to start.
In this article we offer you the keys to improve your company's productivity through a culture of innovation.
what is productivity?
Traditionally, we understand productivity as the relationship between the amount of product obtained in a given time, so that the more units in less time, the higher the productivity. But this definition implies that the production capacity is linear and can be performed by a machine. Reducing productivity to units is short-sighted. Let's take an example:
If we manufacture pens and want higher productivity, in a mechanistic sense, all we have to do is make the necessary adjustments to produce more units per hour.
However, if we are considering whether pens have a future or looking for different ways to write, as happened to typewriter manufacturers with the advent of personal computers and word processors, we need curiosity, imagination, creativity, and a willingness to experiment.
To this end, we must create a culture in which these factors are welcomed and encouraged, and to which quality time and space are dedicated to put them into action. We can't stop making pens because it pays our paychecks today, but we need to come up with new ways of writing because it will pay our paychecks tomorrow.
In this way, to create a culture of innovation increases productivity not only in the short term and in the sense of producing, which would imply a continuous improvement, but it stimulates thinking differently, seeking new solutions to existing problems or needs and, therefore, the productivity of value and in the long term.
How to improve the productivity of a company?
To begin with, it is necessary to assume that there is the present and the future, that is, productivity and exploration - what many organizations call "Perform and Transform" - and that they are two very different worlds.
The world of productivity, of operational excellence, the world of efficiency is what pays the payroll, but if we want to increase value productivity, we must allocate time and space to creativity and exploration.
In this sense, it is also essential to learn different techniques, since we cannot apply the same concepts, methods and tools of productivity to creativity. In addition, we must accept that we are experimenting and, therefore, that unexpected results may occur, from which we will have to learn in order to get closer to the desired objective.
In traditional productivity, "zero error" is pursued, while innovation works to generate errors and learn from them. Unexpected results are part of improving value productivity.
What mistakes should we avoid?
To improve value productivity, the first mistake to avoid from a leadership point of view is to judge, since doing so sends the message that we have the truth and, under that premise, innovation has no place.
Another common misconception is that everyone is equally creative at the same time on the same days and that creativity can be delegated. On the other hand, leaders must be models and examples within the organizations.
Finally, the most common mistake made by leaders is to reward only success, as this kills the attempt.
What is InnoQuotient's role in increasing company productivity?
An organization can try to implement all these recommendations, but if it does not know its starting point, it is walking blind. InnoQuotinent is a diagnosis that makes it possible to numerically visualize where the accelerators and resistances of the different cultures that make up any organization are, when it comes to promoting the innovation culture of a company. The first step is to get to know each other.
