Results for a scientist—the advancement of scientific knowledge—may be quite irrelevant to the organization.
Defining the task makes it possible to define what the results of a given task should be. There is often more than one right answer to the question of what the right results are. Salespeople are right when they define results as the largest sale per customer, and they are also right when they define results as customer retention.
Hence the next and crucial step in making the knowledge worker productive is to define what results are or should be in a particular knowledge worker’s task. This is—and should be—a controversial decision. It is also a risk-taking decision. Above all, it is the point where the individual worker’s task and the mission of the organization converge and have to be harmonized. It is up to management to decide whether the department store aims at maximum sales per transaction or at maximum sales per customer. It is up to management to decide whether the patient or the physician is the primary customer of the hospital. And this decision is going to be one of the permanent challenges for managers and executives in the knowledge organization.
ACTION POINT: Define results for your position. Harmonize any conflict between the way you define results and the way the organization defines results for your position.
Management Challenges for the 21st Century
Knowledge Worker Productivity (Corpedia Online Program)
* Source: The Daily Drucker by Peter F. Drucker