“Fast paced” = common productivity mirage

Knowledge work is still in the grips of industrial mindset 66 years after Peter Drucker named it.

Exhibit A: how many job postings or descriptions have the words “fast paced” in them?

The phrase invokes some vague expectations of “speed” … whatever that means, since it’s rarely explained.

How does someone look “fast paced” in a job? Always be doing something, so when someone sees you, you will look busy.

The assumption: for maximum speed (assumed to be equate to productivity), we will always be doing something.

This is where a common productivity vanity metric often rears its head: “utilization” … which usually degrades into “how much time are you doing something“?

This then translates to “always look busy” for job survival.

It’s hard to look busy when you’re thinking … and thinking when needed is a key part of knowledge work.

The paradox: as long as “productivity” and job success is about looking busy, we won’t achieve higher productivity and job success.

How can you describe a job – whether for advertising an opening or as part of performance management – so that there are meaningful metrics?