Productivity has long been studied. What can possibly be a different and novel way of thinking about it? What alternative is there other than making the factors of production more efficient? How else can or should you think of things? Here is the alternative that I hope by the end of this book will become second nature to you: concentrate on the flow of materials or information through the process. Abandon a focus on whom or what does the work and how busy they might be. Instead, redirect your focus to what gets worked on. Specifically, become the items being worked on and think about making the flow of those items – materials or information – as quick as it can be and with as little variation as possible. Throughput time and variation capture the things that matter for productivity; the only things that matter. You want swift, even flow.

There, I’ve said it. Swift, even flow. The remainder of this book is devoted to explaining and expanding on the implications of these three words.