Frank Floor Talk: Book Review — Slow Productivity

As the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission nears its Feb. 6 meeting on a proposed Cedar Rapids casino, Iowa lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday to set a five-year moratorium on new casino licenses.

Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, introduced House Study Bill 80, a proposal to retroactively begin a moratorium starting Jan. 1, 2025, through June 30, 2030. It also sets new standards for the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, the entity overseeing gaming facilities, from issuing new gambling licenses if the new facility would negatively impact the adjusted gross receipts of existing casinos by more than 10%. If an applicant was denied by the commission, another applicant in the same county could not apply for a license for eight years under the bill.

Slow Productivity – The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout
Written by Cal Newport
Portfolio/Penguin, 2024, $30, 244 pages

The thing I hate about this book is that it was not published 30 years ago. I’m convinced that if it had been, I would have retained a bit more of my hair for a few years longer. I violated just about every idea Newport offers to improve your efficiency, make better decisions and implement stronger strategies. I am fairly certain that a high percentage of my casino colleagues would fall into the same stew. I always believed that faster was better. After reading this, I’m not so sure.

Newport directs most of his concepts to “knowledge workers”. He defines this category as “the economic activity in which knowledge is transformed into an artifact with market value through the application of cognitive effort”. In my opinion, that includes most managers, directors and VPs in casinos working in Slots, Table Games, Marketing and Finance. And of course, IT is the foundation of this definition.

Early on Newport lists three principles of his philosophy: 1. – Do fewer things. 2. – Work at a natural pace. 3. – Obsess over quality. Except for that last one, and until I read this book, I firmly believed that doing the first two would get you fired in short order. That’s why you need to read this book. The main body of the work is dedicated to explaining how to realistically achieve these goals.

He cites concrete examples of how applying his strategies has led to improvements in fields as diverse as literature, physics, software, music, art, and education. He says, “My goal is to offer a more humane and sustainable way to integrate professional efforts into a life well lived. To embrace slow productivity, in other words, is to reorient your work to be a source of meaning instead of overwhelm, while still maintaining the ability to produce valuable output.”

I can hear you now speculating that this book is “woke” or really aimed at Gen Z “snowflakes”. It is certainly not. In my opinion, we can all adopt at least some of his tips to improve our productivity. You may not be able to take 10 years out to ponder a new concept (as he noted in one example), but you can use your existing time better and work in such a way (generally slower) that will produce better results.

In his conclusion, after acknowledging that most of us face many inescapable tasks and appointments, he says, “A slower approach to work is not only feasible, but is likely superior to the ad hoc pseudo-productivity that dictates the professional lives of so many today.”

Amen.

The hardback cover price is $30. You can find it on Amazon for $18.29. I think it also translates well on a Kindle and that version is just $14.99. Read this and see if you don’t come away with the realization that, while not everything here is applicable to your job, many of his ideas are. They will make you a better worker. And a better person.

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