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Lame Title?  Check.  Lame google image?  Check.  Ok, let’s get on with the grown-up post:

Not to say that I’m the master of productivity or anything like that (identifying, not demostrating), but I’m pretty damn good at it.  It’s kinda what I do.

So I find it kind of humorous that while I sit here writing up reports to measure warehouse associates productivity I am also teaching myself a new programming language, Python.  Now, in most non-CS job environments this would be looked down upon.  I mean, I’m using company time to learn something most wouldn’t identify as relevent without the direct approval of my supervisor.  Thankfully, however, I’m in a position where he trusts me to get all of my stuff done and recognizes that the things I do to learn something new are intended to make my job (and therefore his) easier.

I’ve probably used ~25-30% of my time on the job here searching the internet for how to complete random programming tasks from maximizing query speed, to simplifying VBA code.  I actually was able to cut a program’s size by almost 30% yesterday after reading an article from a book I’ve been working my through during lunches.  It’s a really good book for computer-savvy folk called Hackers and Painters and when I get back to a computer with FTP access I’ll update my sidebar accordingly.

Anyway, the point of all of this is that I wonder sometimes if the productivity measurements I’m going to be instituting are really good for the long-term health of the warehouse.  Many managers would see me as a slacker because they don’t take the time to learn exactly what I do, how I do it, and what I need to do it better.  Clearly productivity standards will make the warehouse run better than it currently is as the employees will have a goal to meet, but do we lose anything by setting a standard that doesn’t allow for a growth in the breadth of tasks, only the speed in which they are accomplished?

Just a thought that was running through my head.  And yes, I’m using big words all of a sudden because I’ve been furiously working on business school application essays.

To counteract that, I will update later this week with my tales of gambling on the Royal Rumble this past Sunday.