The Problem with "Productivity" as an Optimisation Metric

We keep using productivity to describe a subset of activities that are valuable, but what we actually measure is efficiency at narrow tasks—speed of completion per unit of effort for pre-defined objectives already deemed important by someone else. There's no reason this metric should be our primary indicator of value; in fact, it systematically disadvantages the most useful type of work which requires slow thinking, ambiguity tolerance, and a willingness to produce nothing productive for extended periods while asking better questions about whether we're working on the right thing at all.

Exactly this — good work is rarely what productivity measures.