Knowledge Worker Productivity And The Practice Of Self Management 
Chapter 11
Knowledge Worker Productivity and
The Practice of Self-Management
By Jeremy Hunter, Ph.D., with J. Scott Scherer
More and more people in the workforce—and mostly knowledge workers—will have to manage themselves.
—Peter F. Drucker, Management Challenges for the 21st Century
Toward the end of his life, Peter Drucker asserted that making knowledge workers productive was “the biggest of the 21st century management challenges.”1 Other scholars support Drucker’s position. Tom
Davenport, a leading thinker on knowledge workers, underscores why this productivity is so important: “If our companies are going to be more profitable, if our strategies are going to be successful, if our society is going to become more advanced—it will be because knowledge workers did their work in a more productive and effective manner.”2 The task of improving knowledge worker productivity is immense, and so are the consequences of failing to do so. In fact,
Drucker warned that improving knowledge worker productivity is the “first survival requirement” of developed nations.3 Failure carries dire consequences for a nation’s economy and society.
Significant efforts have been made in this quest, with varying degrees of success.
Most endeavors have focused on the logical
suspects—work process, managerial practice, organizational structure, information technology and workplace ergonomics.4 Despite these efforts, quantum gains in productivity have not flooded the workplace. In his blog, Davenport wondered why more headway wasn’t being made, even going so far as to ask, “Was Drucker wrong?”5 Alas, Drucker’s 21st century challenge is proving to be a tricky lock to pick. Perhaps the key lies hidden elsewhere. Thus far, most energy has focused on the worker's external environment. If, according to Drucker, the primary asset of a knowledge economy lies
“between the ears” of its knowledge workers,6 then maybe the key to enhancing productivity lies within the workers themselves. Productivity
Knowledge Worker Productivity and
The Practice of Self-Management
By Jeremy Hunter, Ph.D., with J. Scott Scherer
More and more people in the workforce—and mostly knowledge workers—will have to manage themselves.
—Peter F. Drucker, Management Challenges for the 21st Century
Toward the end of his life, Peter Drucker asserted that making knowledge workers productive was “the biggest of the 21st century management challenges.”1 Other scholars support Drucker’s position. Tom
Davenport, a leading thinker on knowledge workers, underscores why this productivity is so important: “If our companies are going to be more profitable, if our strategies are going to be successful, if our society is going to become more advanced—it will be because knowledge workers did their work in a more productive and effective manner.”2 The task of improving knowledge worker productivity is immense, and so are the consequences of failing to do so. In fact,
Drucker warned that improving knowledge worker productivity is the “first survival requirement” of developed nations.3 Failure carries dire consequences for a nation’s economy and society.
Significant efforts have been made in this quest, with varying degrees of success.
Most endeavors have focused on the logical
suspects—work process, managerial practice, organizational structure, information technology and workplace ergonomics.4 Despite these efforts, quantum gains in productivity have not flooded the workplace. In his blog, Davenport wondered why more headway wasn’t being made, even going so far as to ask, “Was Drucker wrong?”5 Alas, Drucker’s 21st century challenge is proving to be a tricky lock to pick. Perhaps the key lies hidden elsewhere. Thus far, most energy has focused on the worker's external environment. If, according to Drucker, the primary asset of a knowledge economy lies
“between the ears” of its knowledge workers,6 then maybe the key to enhancing productivity lies within the workers themselves. Productivity