[kamaal]

Its not about productivity. The net work achieved is totally by any means a wrong metric. What I mean to say is you can't measure human productivity in the same way you measure a machine's productivity.

But there are a few things about star performers that I see. They tend to pick up the toughest problems and work on them. Importance to small yet important details. Extreme importance to quality, relevance and impact of the problem has on the real work and business scenarios.

In most ways, it has nothing to do with education, talent or skill. These are really good habits cultivated and sustained over time.