As US professor Paul Krugman once said, “Productivity isn’t everything, but in the end, it is almost everything”.

In this sense, productivity isn’t just about widgets produced, but the impact people have on those they work with.

As competition intensifies, organisations across industry need to figure out how to do more with less; be it time, energy or resources.

This in turn places ever greater demand on individuals to think about what they need to do to deliver the outcomes the organisation requires from their role.

For this reason, the performance challenge is on each of us for when we assess an entity’s performance, it becomes ever more apparent that it’s about the substance of its people and what they bring to the table.

In year’s past, it was all about efficiency and skill-sets. Today it is about impact and the effect we have on others.

No longer are businesses consumed by qualifications. Now, they are looking for people to bring about change; to help them create a movement within that enables it to deliver the things that matter most to its customers.

As we look around, we see changes occurring in every sector and yet the majority of organisations are grappling to know what changes to make rather than building a culture that allows it to transform its ability to deliver.

By focusing on what matters, ‘disruption’ - the word Harvard Business Professor Clayton Christensen coined in his ‘97 book (The Innovation Dilemma) to explain an exponential shift in customer service - can be generated from within rather than something an organisation has to face up to.

Every day we see people looking bored within businesses that need to change and yet the change required is incumbent upon its leaders to drive.

If a business is to win – as most would say they want to – it has to show its people what winning looks like for as we know, we can’t make people perform but what we can do is show them how.

To assess your performance, ask yourself the question: What is your business becoming as a consequence of you?

To assess your peoples’ performance, ask yourself the question: What difference are they making to our customers or those we are here for?

At the end of the day, our life and career is a reflection of who we are and what we contribute. For this reason, being our best is of paramount importance.

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