Productivity performance in NZ has been an issue since the 1970s and, at least until mid last year, remained our greatest economic challenge.  Even in the new world, where it seems everything is now a challenge, productivity improvement offers a potential long-term positive response.  In the New Yorker today, the financial page discusses how unusually, in this recession, US productivity has already risen in the last quarter. Even as we consider cutting worked hours in NZ, we must take care to try and continually increase outputs - this is the driver of a healthy economy.  If there is a productivity issue with NZ salary workers, it may be because many of us work to live and choose not to pull long hours. The answer, though is not more hours but smarter hours through less process waste, fewer errors, clearer lines of communications.  Less is more.