Poor productivity isn’t about individuals, it’s a systemic cultural issue. Uncover practical solutions to transform your company's productivity culture and release the full potential of your business.

• Praise for UNBLOCK: Transform your company’s profi tability through a culture of productivity in just 100 days
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• Part 1 – Productivity Cultures
  • Your Productivity Culture
• Part 2 – Improving Productivity
  • Productivity Drivers
  • Promise
  • Price
  • People
  • Process
• Part 3 – Finding Untapped Productivity
  • Conducting an Unblock Audit™
• Part 4 – Solutions
  • Which Lever to Pull?
  • Prioritization
  • Change Management
  • Summary
• Acknowledgements
• Bibliography
• Index

More productive people and processes, fast.

In many countries, productivity growth has been sluggish for over 15 years. It is the reason why we are all working harder for less money, and yet despite many attempts to overcome this, it remains a significant challenge.

Yet productivity is a poorly understood concept - few companies measure it effectively, and even fewer understand how they can change it for the better. In UNBLOCK, Amanda Sokell sets out the root cause of a poor productivity culture and outlines four levers to transform your productivity, and therefore your profits, in only 100 days.

Amanda Sokell is a process and productivity expert who helps companies thrive. She’s also a popular speaker, author, entrepreneur, creative, polymath and educationalist; lover of learning, chocolate, dancing and difference.

In a 25-year career spanning public relations, software development, coaching, mentoring and training, Amanda has helped transform the productivity culture of organizations from global pharmaceuticals to family-run microbusinesses.

Amanda redefines the 4P’s to drive productivity with a comprehensive look at people, promise, price and process, all key to business in a changing world. If you are seeking a book that explores the subject and want to be inspired by a far deeper understanding of what makes for improved productivity, then this is most certainly one to read. Packed full of insight and practical applications it will help you make sense of the subject and create a productive culture. - Barnaby Wynter, Master Brand Creation Expert and MBA facilitator. Author of Become the Go-to Brand

Having written several books on personal and team productivity, I have always been aware that there is a bigger game at play – organisational productivity. How do you unblock the barriers that get in the way of the overall productivity and output of your organisation? In UNBLOCK, Amanda Sokell suggests that its starts with measurement, and provides some simple ways for your leaders to work out where their team is at with productivity, and where they need to be. She then explores how productive cultures can create the environment where productivity is an automatic outcome of how the team works. As a business leader, a part of your role is to improve the productivity of your team and organisation. Read this to fast-track how you do that. - Dermot Crowley, author of Smart Work, Smart Teams and Lead Smart

Some 20 years ago, as Chair of a couple of Vistage groups I was wise enough to persuade Amada to join. Whilst my task was to ‘challenge’ Amanda, I found, as I worked with her, that we were rapidly moving towards role reversal!

Having read UNBLOCK I now know that the growth I observed in Amandas’ thinking, precise, analytical and logical, has progressed exponentially.

UNBLOCK is essential reading for any CEO seriously invested in increasing productivity. It covers all the critical areas – Managing Change, Pricing, People, Culture and Managing Intellectual Lethargy. I specifically related to her approach of providing multiple case studies, ranging from local motorbike dealers to Global brands, to illustrate key points. Facts tell: Stories sell.

Amanda’s background reading and research is comprehensive, professional and well laid out. Her ‘tools’ are dynamic and useful, her thinking precise and persuasive and her book a “must read”. - Chris Hughes, Emeritus Vistage Chair

I have always believed simplicity is the end point of understanding. UNBLOCK is a book which delivers just that. Amanda has managed to condense the whole spectrum of business strategy, key business success factors and the drivers of productivity into a highly readable book. Her success in achieving this is the result of many years as a practitioner rather than as an academic. I would recommend this book to any business owner or senior manager who is trying to find a cohesive explanation of productivity and how to deliver it across the whole business. - Roger Martin-Fagg, Behavioural Economist

Working with Amanda supercharged my business in its early stages. Since then I have devoured everything she has produced. Strongly recommend others do exactly the same by reading this book. - Phil Turner, Former CEO, Philharmonic AV

UNBLOCK is a must read for anyone seeking to understand productivity challenges. Amanda Sokell brilliantly unravels the complexities of post-2008 productivity stagnation, offering practical solutions for businesses and leaders. The detailed analysis of problematic versus systematic cultures provides pragmatic strategies to shift any organisation towards peak productivity. Sokell’s insights are not only timely but essential for driving growth in today's economy. - Ishan Galapathy, Author of Hidden Growth Opportunities, Advance and Unlock

In a rapidly changing world, driven by the accelerated disruption of the workplace, workforce and marketplace, all powered by the relentless advance of technology, CEOs must focus on improving the productivity levers within their control to get more from their organization. Unblock creates a clear thought framework for defining and driving productivity with strategies, tactics and pathways to deliver the organizational change required to become measurably more productive. - Joe Galvin, Chief Research Officer, Vistage International

In Unblock Amanda Sokell provides a roadmap for business leaders determined to make productivity a core part of their organisation’s DNA. Drawing on real-world examples and a deep understanding of the challenges businesses face today, she lays out practical steps that any company can take to unlock its full potential. This book is a crucial resource for those of us committed to driving the UK’s productivity forward, one business at a time. - Anthony Impey, Chief Executive, Be the Business