Anti-productivity and anti-efficiency

Maximum productivity and efficiency is good, right?

Not necessarily:

More isn’t necessarily better. General Motors make 7.7 million cars a year. Rolls-Royce only sold 5,152 in 2019, yet is deemed more valuable. Some buy for economic travel, others buy for prestige.

Faster isn’t necessarily better. The bond between source, artisan and buyer is much stronger with Hermès than it is with Walmart. It takes longer to do everything, and shoppers feel a connection through their purchases.

We celebrate productivity and efficiency.

Often with good cause. They have their place.

But for every time we ask ourselves, “How could our work benefit from being more productive?” we might want to also ask ourselves, “How could our work benefit from being less productive?”