Do the Nine Phases of Productivity have to be advanced through sequentially?

It is possible to choose between taking a basic route through the Nine Phases of Productivity versus taking a more advanced route where you compress the gains by targeting the shortest path to the maximum return on investment, knowing that you are leaving some gains behind. This is colloquially called a Jump Project; 'we choose to jump phases.'

Implementation experience has demonstrated that when you implement a Jump Project, gains are also made in the lower category phases. This is because there are prerequisites to getting large system-wide gains. In short, the Nine Phases of Productivity is used to plan the shortest path to the maximum return on investment.

Each phase of your Productivity Journey should add 5% to 15% (occasionally much more) to your productivity. Ideally, you’d transition through the entire 9 Phases of Productivity in 3 to 5 years without external help.

It is possible to choose between taking a minimalist route through the Nine Phases of Productivity, touching targeted phases briefly before moving on, or taking a more thorough route where you seek out the maximum productivity gains achievable.

The Minimalist Route

• If a business chooses to do the minimalist route, it should expect to get a portion of the possible deliverable outcomes.
• The minimalist route can involve bypassing phases in automation (Phase 4 and 6) for faster implementation. This will still increase productivity, but not at much as going through the automation phases.
• The minimalist route isn’t necessarily a bad option and doesn’t mean that the business can’t continue on to and complete the advanced route later.

The Thorough Route

• The thorough route requires more time and effort to be put into learning new skills and methodologies.
• The benefits of the thorough route are that it allows for a more complete solution; that is, using everything to its fullest extent and getting the most gains, and the compounding gains, out of each phase of the Productivity Journey.
• The thorough route requires an investment of more time, money and effort earlier, but rewards you with bigger gains sooner.