We can be fruitful in our efforts, even when we might not have been productive

I recently came across the concept of "fruitfulness" and my curiosity was piqued because it was being compared with productivity. In my mind, they were similar enough to be the same.

But the more I thought about the terms and had conversations about them (thanks Shirley https://nicheless.blog/post/now-|-language---more-on-fruit), the more I realised they are distinct from each other.

Productivity is all or nothing. You're only productive if you complete the task and achieve the desired outcome. For example, let's say your young child wanted pizza for dinner and wanted to place a phone order themselves. The process might be:

1. Decide on which pizzas to order

2. Look up the pizza shop phone number

3. Make the call (which includes several sub-steps)

4. Place the order (which includes several sub-steps)

5. Hang up

6. Wait

7. Pay for the pizzas (which includes several sub-steps)

8. Receive the pizzas

As you can see, there are a number of steps your child has to take to make the order and they get pizza only when they've successfully completed all the steps. From a productivity perspective, the time spent on going through the process was productive because your child got their desired outcome. But what if they couldn't complete one of the steps? No pizza 😭

Fruitfulness is a way of looking at your efforts without judging the outcome. Using the example above, successfully completing every step is an outcome that can be recognised as part of "your young child is practising the steps of ordering pizzas by phone". But unsuccessful attempts also count as outcomes (ie, now you both know that your child needs to practise the failed step a few more times). Failure becomes an opportunity to practise other things instead, like discussing and deciding with your child whether they try again or it's time you take over ordering the pizzas because you're both hungry already.

The above distinction between fruitfulness and productivity means we can be fruitful in our efforts, even when we might not have been productive.

Think of something you're putting time and energy into today. If you apply a fruitfulness lens to it, how does your view of yourself & your efforts change, regardless of the actual outcome?