We’re in a productivity crisis, according to 52 years of data. Things could get really bad.

Author Note: This article was written over 60 hours with love and care using the <a href="https://medium.com/accelerated-intelligence/the-1-mental-model-for-writers-who-want-to-write-high-quality-viral-content-43ecf0d4ec05" rel="noopener">blockbuster mental model</a>. If you want to create high-quality viral content using the blockbuster approach, I have two programs to help you. Heavy weight: I personally lead a year-long, small-group training. The 6th cohort starts in September 2023. To learn more, <a href="https://seminal.lpages.co/blockbuster-application-step-1a/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">fill out this application</a>. Light weight: With my <a href="https://blockbuster.thoughtleader.school/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Blockbuster Blueprint newsletter</a>, you receive a daily 5-minute video lesson from a famous thought leader along with an easy way to apply it. <blockquote> “The most important, and indeed the truly unique, contribution of management in the 20th century was the fifty-fold increase in the productivity of the manual worker in manufacturing.” — Peter Drucker </blockquote> <pre> I spent over 500 hours researching and writing this article. Those 500 hours were spent reading through dozens of books/studies in 10+ fields (history, economics, technology, philosophy of science, manufacturing, management, sociology, investing, innovation). I spent so much time because the topic was both much more interesting and complicated than I originally thought. And, as is the case with all of my writing on Medium, I use the <a href="https://medium.com/accelerated-intelligence/the-1-mental-model-for-writers-who-want-to-write-high-quality-viral-content-43ecf0d4ec05" rel="noopener">blockbuster philosophy</a>. This means I don't click publish unless I think it is one of the best articles that has been written on the topic. As a result of going through the research process, I will never think about productivity in the same way. What I learned blew my mind over and over, and I hope it does the same for you as the reader.</pre> It wasn’t supposed to be like this. The “Great Boom” was supposed to last. From 1870–1970, <a href="https://medium.com/accelerated-intelligence/in-1911-an-influential-expert-revealed-a-forgotten-science-of-how-to-be-50x-more-productive-8828f86eb1c9" rel="noopener">there was an incredible 50x increase in the productivity</a> of the average manual worker. Let me break that down so it really lands for you like it did for me: <a href="https://medium.com/accelerated-intelligence/were-in-a-productivity-crisis-according-to-52-years-of-data-things-could-get-really-bad-5c7e53242a0">Learn More</a>