As you begin to look at the range of topics we discuss in this productivity website, an obvious question any reader would ask is: “Do you have the credentials to speak intelligently and knowledgeably about all the very diverse areas of productivity growth?

It’s a great question. Obviously, we think the answer is yes, but here’s why. Let’s use the example of a geologist. Clearly, one geologist is probably not an expert on every mountain range in the world. There would be many geologists who would have very specialized knowledge of any given mountain range or even a part of a mountain range. But, one geologist, with an understanding of continental drift, could easily be an expert on how the many mountain ranges of the world formed and how they will evolve over the next billion years.

That’s because he understands the rules of the game. He knows how mountain ranges are formed and what factors drive them. He doesn’t need to be an expert in each mountain range to give a fairly accurate prediction of how continental drift will affect each range. He just as to be an expert on how continental drift works

In fact, if the many experts on each mountain range were not experts on continental drift, they would be the ones who were unqualified to speak about how their particular mountain range evolved or how it was going to change in the future.

They may know the particular rocks, topography and structure of their mountain range, much, much better than the expert on continental drift, but without a thorough understanding of continental drift they can’t speak intelligently and knowledgeably about how the mountains formed and will change.

The same is true for our study of productivity. We don’t have to be experts in each area of productivity we study. We don’t have to be doctors, or mechanics, or aerospace engineers, to understand how productivity evolved in each of those areas and how it will continue to evolve. We have to be experts in the understanding of the forces that create productivity and how those forces will change productivity in the future. In fact, without a thorough understanding of the forces that create the evolution of productivity over time, the experts in each area we speak about are actually the ones who are unqualified to speak about productivity in their area.

No different from geology.

Of course, over time, we would expect that many experts in each field will become increasing aware of the forces impacting productivity in there are of expertise based on the work that we are doing. Hence, over time, they will become the lasing experts on productivity in their area. They will be very helpful in enhancing our understanding of productivity in their specific area of expertise and will help to extend our work to greater detail.