– Back to Articles

The term “product” is often misunderstood, and with the resulting confusion there is a significant amount of wasted energy (money and resources) in any group.

A product is something which is created and has exchange value outside of the area where it is produced. This can be a service exchanged with the public like a massage or a membership at a gym, or a physical thing like a new car or a piece of software.

Every job in a company creates a product that has exchange internally, with fellow teammates. For example, Viable Staff Members is a product of the HR manager. Operational Square Feet would be the product of a Custodian for the facility.

Every identity has a product. A husband, a wife, a parent, a truck driver, a flower, a CEO. It is by the exchange of the product connected with an identity that this identity prospers.

The company as a whole also has a product that represents the combined efforts of its team. The product of Rainmakers, for example, is Improved Clients.

Entire ecosystems fail when the exchanges between life forms are interrupted. Oil spills, for example, interrupt the ability for fishes and plants to survive – which is to say exchange their products in the ecosystem. School systems that interrupt the creative processes of our children inhibit their ability to exchange their value with the world. Arbitrary policies in an organization inhibit the flow and exchange of the parts of the group with each other and with their customer base.

The best mousetrap in the world has no value unless it is exchanged for something of value. The value for which it is exchanged determines the value of the mousetrap – and the contribution of the identity that creates that product.

This is a Fundamental. If production is not occurring, the ability to name the product is probably missing.

If a salesperson is not selling, sit him down and ask him, “What is your product?” You will be amazed at the answers you get. Nowhere in these answers is a definable product. You will hear action phrases like “I sell real estate.” This is an activity, not a product. He might even name a product like “Sold Real-Estate,” but cannot name the SUB-products that form the runway to the eventual sale.

In a failing marriage, ask the partners to tell you what the product is of a husband, of a wife, of a child, of a marriage. Herein you discover why the marriage is not prospering.

Clearing up the understanding of a product, and ensuring that each person in your operation has a sound grasp of his product and how to achieve it, you will observe a marked increase in productivity.