MODERN BUSINESS
Too busy for progress:
Why efficiency is killing
business
By Jason Fox
I
rrelevance awaits business leaders
who find themselves too busy
for meaningful progress. It’s an
insidious threat, and the shadow
side of the number one breakthrough
business idea from the Harvard
Business Review in 2010 - ‘The
Progress Principle’.
54 ModernBusiness
July 2016
Research by Professors Teresa
Amabile and Steven Kramer
identified that people’s motivation is
at its highest when they can see how
their efforts contribute to progress.
This explains why we find lists of
things to do so motivating – to the
point where we will sometimes write
down things we have already done,
just so that we can tick them off to
get a sense of progress. It is one of
the most useful business concepts
for any leader: visibility of progress
is more important as a motivator
than peer support, clear goals,
incentives and rewards.