# A Choice of Productivity By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2024-01-02 Seth Godin talks about two types of productivity. The first is chores. Examples include checking email, attending meetings, and doing the laundry. Most of our time is spent on chores, especially in any organization. As such, most people talk about efficiency and productivity in terms of chores, and one can optimize them. However, chores essentially perpetuate the status quo. Rarely, if ever, does something interesting emerge from chore optimization. Conversely, the other type of productivity is initiative. This is solving a new problem, trying something that might not work, and challenging what has always been. Initiative is uncertain and cannot be optimized. Simply put, one must try to do it without assurances of improvement or success. As scary as it is, this type of productivity is how things change, which is partly why organizations never promote it. Most organizations do not hire people to do something different and challenge them. Instead, they hire them to do the chores as the organization has already created something "new" that defines its existence. There are exceptions, but not nearly as many as one may think. Perhaps one was hired to "shake things up" but only realizes six months later how little the organization wants to change. Or, maybe one works for a research organization. While the goal may be to develop something new, one will be restricted by organizational parameters. For example, if the organization does chemical research, one is unlikely to be rewarded for philosophical research. In a way, the organization has made coming up with something new a chore. This is the most cruel form of productivity. One cannot do chores and take initiative at the same time. One must choose. This is the Age of Choice, after all. #### Related Items [[The Age of Choice]] [[Productivity]] [[Work]] [[Status Quo]] [[Organization]] [[Rewards]] [[Efficiency]] [[Seth Godin]]