Narayana Murthy recently sparked a heated debate by stating that Indian youth need to work 70 hours a week to boost productivity. Given his 50+ years of leadership at Infosys, his remarks understandably carry weight.
He compared India to Germany and Japan after WW2, who worked for a long time to rebuild their economies. It is time that Indians also worked like that to make India a developed nation!
However, for low productivity, the solution offered of working for 70 hours has created a sharp reaction across the spectrum, with some siding with it and others rejecting it. Many have cited burnout and work-life balance, whereas others said that without sacrifice like that, India can’t get ahead.
But many miss the kind of jobs we have today and their relation to time. In this post, I would like to offer a new view of work, especially with the advancement of AI.
The Debate on Time and Productivity
Firstly, since the industrial age began, one question has haunted business leaders: How can businesses drive productivity? Higher productivity leads to higher growth, profits, and incomes, which are common measures of enterprise success. At its core, productivity asks:
“If a dollar’s worth of capital resources is spent, what is the output?”
Capital can be human resources, engineering, technology—almost anything. Output, meanwhile, is typically measured in production, revenue, and, ultimately, profit.
Now, drivers of productivity have many factors similar to those in other aspects of business or personal life, such as good communication, fitness, wealth, culture, and economy.
Limiting the time spent as the key determining factor is similar to telling my gym instructor that you need to work out in the gym for 3-4 hours to get real fitness!
Business productivity can come at 2 levels: using machines or involving humans.
The equation for machines is straightforward: better machines and faster operations often lead to higher productivity. To make machines run longer and produce more parts per unit of time/money, we may need faster/quality machines, low/high energy consumption, and skilled manpower.
But when human behavior is the driving factor, things become far more complex due to the dynamic nature of human motivations, needs, and interactions. Also, handling too many variables can be problematic.
We prefer shortcuts and always seek to reduce complex problems to the single biggest factor! To simplify this complexity, we often reduce it to one variable: time. Time and productivity are often perceived as inseparable twins.
But is this relationship genuine, or has time been given more credit than it deserves? Before exploring this further, it’s essential to understand the two key types of work that dominate our economy today: algorithmic work and heuristic work.
Algorithmic vs. Heuristic Work
Let’s go back to the 20th century, say from the 1920s. Until the internet evolved, the nature of work for most people was well-defined.
This means it is similar to algorithmic work with all the puzzle pieces defined and requires only arranging the same. So, an algorithmic task is one in which you follow a set of established instructions down a single pathway to conclude. There is an algorithm to solve it, which can also be considered logical or left-brain work.
An example is working in factory assembly or the garment industry, which are algorithmic by nature. Even on a construction site, the white-collar job of a cashier or a BPO executive is algorithmic.
Productivity here is often linearly related to time spent: Spend more time, produce more output. It’s a straightforward equation. This type of work requires less thinking and, by nature, involves repetition. Because of this, most people who are involved in any algorithmic work experience boredom.
Boredom causes a drop in productivity. To address boredom, organizational gurus and economists developed powerful tools of rewards and punishment throughout the 20th century to keep employees motivated.
Also, this kind of work doesn’t demand high mental energy, as the thinking part is low and the doing part is high! For any algorithmic work, productivity is measured and dependent on factors such as {Time Spent, Rewards, Punishment}. The simple Pavloin model of showing carrot and stick to get things done has worked!
Hence, the recent advancement in HR has introduced fun@work, which means bringing some unpredictability and gamification to the workplace so that employees, even if engaged in repetitive work, have novel or unexpected experiences outside the actual work.
However, algorithmic tasks have always faced real competition from machines. Machines, by nature, are built to solve logical problems.
At any given time, machines’ productivity is much higher than that of humans. Machines, after all, don’t tire, get bored, or demand rewards for motivation. While humans require gamification, recognition, and even “fun” interventions to counteract boredom, machines remain unaffected. As a result, many algorithmic tasks are increasingly automated.
Businesses seeking maximum productivity would rather replace humans with machines wherever possible, and we see it happening all over! The latest AI revolution can be the last straw on the camel’s back! If things go as is now, most algorithmic jobs are AI-fied.
However, as human beings’ innate need is to seek uncertainty and novelty, only promising rewards or punishment to drive motivation can be counterproductive.
That is why a second type of work has grown since the 1970s: heuristic work. By nature, heuristic tasks are the opposite of algorithmic work. This is precisely because no 100% algorithm exists for heuristic work.
Work that involves other human beings, such as hospitality, managerial work, customer support, and sales, is a clear example of heuristic tasks. Also, work that requires design, such as creating ads, writing, UX Design, building a prototype, software development, etc
Here, instead of repetitive work, some element of experimentation is required, or mere engagement with a human means no standard instruction can be followed!
This type of work can also be classified as right-brain work involving thinking, creativity, empathy, and design. Since it also involves influencing fellow human beings, it naturally demands higher mental and emotional energy!
The Complexity of Heuristic Productivity
The productivity drivers for heuristic tasks differ greatly from those for algorithmic tasks. In the case of algorithmic tasks, we see a linear relation with TIME, and motivation can be driven by acts of rewards and punishment, along with fun@work!
These things change for heuristic work. The relationship between time and productivity is non-linear and more nuanced in this context. Spending more time does not necessarily equate to better output; it may lead to diminishing returns and burnout.
Studies have shown that upfront rewards for creative tasks can result in stress and lower productivity. On the other hand, if people are given autonomy to work at their will and support is provided during crises, results show that they can get things done quickly and even find solutions to complex problems.
This is because the very nature of heuristic tasks lacks defined work, and a typical worker here does not require rewards or fun@work but instead seeks clarity, purpose, and competence that can help him take on challenges.
Anyone doing heuristic tasks will often get stuck. Now, lack of clarity, purpose, or required competence means the tendency is to give up! If one chooses to pursue it, one needs to spend more time on it in a directionless way and starts experiencing burnout, which is common in many white-collar jobs.
Unless the person feels work is fun, his productivity will be lower here! Effective management requires fostering a supportive environment with the following:
- Clarity of vision and goals
- Autonomy in execution
- A clear sense of purpose
- Competence and mastery over their work
- Timely recognition and genuine appreciation
Narayan Murthy’s proposal, though well-intentioned, doesn’t reflect the complexity of today’s workplace, where many tasks are heuristic and demand more than sheer hours. As an entrepreneur, he had all these defined, and working 70 hours a week seems quite justified.
Asking others to work 70-hour weeks without providing autonomy, purpose, or meaningful support risks driving them into burnout rather than productivity.
Moving Beyond Time as the Key Metric
While time remains a factor, it is not the sole driver of productivity, particularly in modern workplaces dominated by heuristic work. The real challenge is that not every business leader knows how to manage these workers.
Many business leaders use rewards and punishment to motivate people to perform heuristic tasks. Let’s take the issue of managers in the technology business.
The tasks of managers include managing a diverse set of team members to deliver projects that are quite complex. Some of the common issues that can happen are
- Aggressive timelines in project delivery
- A complex issue or requirement that the team must resolve urgently,
- Some team members lack the drive to work long hours that are required to meet customer demands
- Learn new technology or skills
In any of these cases, the manager must be able to guide his team on clarity and vision, help teams acquire new competencies, keep reminding them of the larger purpose, and yet provide autonomy!
Now, how many managers can do that? Can they drive vision and purpose to their team members? Without these factors, asking people to work 70 hours a week causes only burnout vs productivity.
In his book Drive, Daniel Pink emphasizes, “The secret to high performance isn’t rewards and punishments, but that unseen intrinsic drive—the drive to do things for their own sake.”
So, business leaders must recognize that genuine productivity is rooted in purpose, mastery, and autonomy.
To lead effectively in such environments, managers must inspire their teams and provide the necessary tools and support to navigate complex challenges. Without this, simply working longer hours will only exacerbate stress and undermine creative output.
Here is what to think about.
As I conclude this article, with the demands of a modern economy, here is something to ask ourselves:
How much do we value our time and others’ time and work towards creating environments where productivity can flourish through purpose, creativity, and autonomy rather than burnout?
If not, it is time to start doing it now. To create meaningful change in the workplace or to motivate others to take action without using force or incentives but instead raise awareness by choice of the right words,
I’d invite you to join my Exclusive Ethical Persuasion Community.
In this community, I share exclusive insights and strategies for communicating using ethical persuasion, which helps build relationships, eliminate uncertainty, and motivate people to take action!
All by making small changes that guarantee big results in getting more buy-in, influencing decisions, and leading a more productive life!
As a bonus, when you join, you’ll get access to the Persuasion Power Program for Business Success, delivered by Dr. Robert Cialdini.
